Melvin Van Peebles Movies

An interview/overview on the influential careers of Gordon Parks, Ossie Davis, and Melvin Van Peebles.

A documentary looking at the making and legacy of The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973).

A history of the racially stereotyped portrayal of African Americans in cinema, hosted by film pioneer Melvin Van Peebles.

In 1971, director Melvin Van Peebles turned the figure of the black hero in US cinema upside down with Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song: the story...

A black man steals to afford to marry the woman he loves. After being released from prison, he returns in time to see his daughter's wedding.

A young boy receives a mystical motorcycle that transforms into a woman when he rides it at night.

A high school is rocked by a contentious debate over whether or not "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" should be removed from its library for...

Upon learning that their grandmother is not long for this world, Nate and Priscilla Simmons pack up their kids and leave Detroit to head down South....

14-year-old Enid Crowley hates her name and everything about her boring life. All this changes when she becomes a full-time babysitter to a sheltered...

This twenty-two minute interview with Melvin Van Peebles has the cult filmmaker starting things off by lighting a cigar, which is something he has...

The film looks at men and women of color in the U.S. Merchant Marine from 1938-1975. Through chronicling the lives of these men and women who, with a...

Maverick director Melvin Van Peebles translates his own satirical novel to the screen with this multi-national portrait of race, class, and...

Drama about a young man who defies his parents by dropping out of college to pursue his dream of owning a fishing boat, following in the footsteps of...

A boy sees a 500-franc note under a sewer grate and tries to retrieve it.

The second short film Melvin Van Peebles made in San Francisco before decamping for Europe is a striking portrait of a group of day labourers...