Baadasssss!

For a look back at the film that was not only the first of the "blaxploitation" genre but one of the original "indie" movies, check out the one-of-a-kind bio-pic BAADASSSSS!. Writer/director/star Mario Van Peebles pays tribute to his dad, pioneer black filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles. The movie dramatically recounts all his father went through more than 30 years ago when Melvin decided to go against every grain in American filmmaking to make his breakout hit, SWEET SWEETBACK'S BAAD ASSSSS SONG. Following the success of his directing debut, the Hollywood-studio-financed THE WATERMELON MAN (1970), Melvin (played here by the younger Van Peebles) defies conventional wisdom to make a movie about a black street hustler turned revolutionary on the run from racist cops. And the only way to do this is with independent financing, a Herculean task. Melvin doesn’t stop there, though: He insists on a multi-ethnic crew. To throw the then-white unions off the scent, he pretends he is making a porno. And that's just the beginning of this adventure, a son's celebration of a father's hard-won accomplishment.