AMIA Spring 2021

“Born of a revolutionary bloodline to activist filmmaker, Melvin Van Peebles, you could say that Mario Van Peebles was born to make films that nudge our social consciousness and encourage us to answer questions we hadn’t thought to ask. “ – Allison Kugel, The Spectrum

Mario Van Peebles’ made his film debut playing a younger version of his father Melvin’s character in the senior Van Peebles’ 1971’s Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song. Throughout his career, he’s brought challenging, compelling material to the screen, making his  feature directorial debut with the 1991 hit New Jack City, followed by Posse (1993), and Panther (1995). He has earned critical acclaim in films such as Michael Mann’s Oscar-nominated Ali for his role as real-life minister and human rights activist Malcolm X; the multi-award-winning Cotton Club (1984) written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola; Clint Eastwood’s Heartbreak Ridge (1986); and several projects with director Ava DuVernay. His films include the hip-hop coming-of-age film We the Party (2012), which he wrote, directed and produced; his documentary short Bring Your ‘A’ Game (2009); and Baadasssss! (2003), his odyssey about the making of his father’s groundbreaking film Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971), this time playing his father.  He recently directed the Salt-N-Pepa story, is currently directing The Wu-Tang Clan Saga for Hulu, and is working on the revival of Melvin Van Peebles’ seminal 1971 musical “Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death” for Broadway.

Mario Van Peebles will be in conversation with Michael B. Gillespie, author of Film Blackness: American Cinema and the Idea of Black Film (Duke University Press, 2016) and co-editor of Black One Shot, an art criticism series on ASAP/J. He is an associate professor of film at the City College of New York and the Graduate Center, CUNY.

Sweet Sweetback's Badassss Song will screen Friday, April 16 at 5:00 pm.