Melvin Van Peebles

After his father's death, a young boy finds solace in action movies featuring an indestructible cop. Given a magic ticket by a theater manager, he is transported into the film and teams up with the cop to stop a villain who escapes into the real world.

After another deadly shark attack, Ellen Brody decides she has had enough of New England's Amity Island and moves to the Caribbean to join her son, Michael, and his family. But a great white shark has followed her there, hungry for more lives.

Marcus is a successful advertising executive who woos and beds women almost at will. After a company merger he finds that his new boss, the ravishing Jacqueline, is treating him in exactly the same way. Completely traumatised by this, his work goes badly downhill.

A maverick skydiver and a former KGB agent team up to stop the Russian mafia from stealing gold.

In this sprawling, fictionalized history of the Black Panthers, 1960s Oakland becomes a war zone as the Panthers battle for the right to exist.

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 of the making of a seminal movie that initiated the Blaxploitation movement, a short-lived but highly influential sub-genre in the years that followed.

A group of mostly black infantrymen return from the Spanish-American War with a cache of gold. They travel to the West where their leader searches for the men who lynched his father.

Chronicles the rise and fall of 1970s New York City nightclub Plato's Retreat.

Three converging story lines involving bootleggers, a serial killer and drug dealers are followed. A former drug dealer tries to go straight, but comes across a stash of stolen drugs. Meanwhile, a middle-aged suburban housewife hides a sadistic and vicious streak.

A former U.S. marshal discovers that all of the survivors of his old unit are experiencing the same symptoms simultaneously and there may be a larger conspiracy at hand.

From the immensely popular FIST OF THE NORTH STAR comic book series, comes a new hero. The fate of mankind rests with superhuman warrior Kenshiro who roams the wastelands of the future waging a battle against overwhelming evil. With the spiritual guidance of his dead father, Kenshiro fights to free his stolen love from the brutal tyrant Lord Shin. Through his struggle he must confront his destiny.

After saving a Black Panther from some racist cops, a black male prostitute goes on the run from "the man" with the help of the ghetto community and some disillusioned Hells Angels.

In order to escape from the mob, an African-American man must disguise himself as a white man.

Hoping to propose to his upper-crust girlfriend, Wade Walker crashes her family's annual reunion and lands in a face-off with her dad.

A black police officer discovers a cell of white supremacist vigilantes within his department.

The Behind-the-Scenes documentary of the dramatic comedy Do the Right Thing.

BLACKOUT takes you inside the personal journey of what went down and what it was really like in Brooklyn, NY on August 14. It examines the nature of man to take advantage of his own fellow man outside of normal conditions, in times of weakness and vulnerability

When a psychotic Santa tries to destroy Chanukah by hypnotizing Jewish children with bootlegged copies of the Christmas classic "It's a Wonderful Life," it's up to the Hebrew Hammer to save the day. Together with Mohammed, head of the Kwanzaa Liberation Front, the Hammer takes no prisoners in his quest to hunt down the renegade Santa and make the holiday season safe for all.

A look at the extraordinary achievements and contemporary legacy of Oscar Micheaux, a pioneer of the African-American film industry.

With archive film clips and interviews, this brief look at a frequently overlooked historical period of filmmaking acts as an introduction rather than a complete record. It features interviews with some of the genre's biggest stars, like Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, and Richard Roundtree. Director Melvin Van Peebles discusses the historical importance of his landmark film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. For a contemporary perspective, the excitable Quentin Tarantino offers his spirited commentary and author/critic bell hooks provides some scholarly social analysis.

O.C. and Stiggs aren't your average unhappy teenagers. They not only despise their suburban surroundings, but they also plot against it. They seek revenge against the upper-middle-class Schwab family, who embody all they detest: excess.

A racist insurance agent lives in a typical suburban neighborhood, but his bigoted world of taunting and harassing black people on and off the job is turned upside down when his skin inexplicably turns dark overnight.

Arrabal's sixth film based on his novel from 1969 with the same name as the movie.

In Tennessee, Bailey, a debt-straddled blues guitarist, is escorted across the state by a man named Augy so that he can collect his recently deceased grandfather's estate. A drama focused on an individual's spiritual redemption.

In this sprawling, fictionalized history of the Black Panthers, 1960s Oakland becomes a war zone as the Panthers battle for the right to exist.

In this sprawling, fictionalized history of the Black Panthers, 1960s Oakland becomes a war zone as the Panthers battle for the right to exist.

The true life story of Wendell Scott, the first black stock car racing driver to win an upper-tier NASCAR race.

The true life story of Wendell Scott, the first black stock car racing driver to win an upper-tier NASCAR race.

Four erotic short films, all with similar unexpected endings: 'The Dutch Master': a woman who enters a living painting; 'The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch': a woman is lured by noises from a chamber; 'Vroom Vroom Vroooom': a motorcycle transforms into a woman; and 'Wet': a hot tub salesman seduced by a woman.

Four erotic short films, all with similar unexpected endings: 'The Dutch Master': a woman who enters a living painting; 'The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch': a woman is lured by noises from a chamber; 'Vroom Vroom Vroooom': a motorcycle transforms into a woman; and 'Wet': a hot tub salesman seduced by a woman.

After saving a Black Panther from some racist cops, a black male prostitute goes on the run from "the man" with the help of the ghetto community and some disillusioned Hells Angels.

After saving a Black Panther from some racist cops, a black male prostitute goes on the run from "the man" with the help of the ghetto community and some disillusioned Hells Angels.

After saving a Black Panther from some racist cops, a black male prostitute goes on the run from "the man" with the help of the ghetto community and some disillusioned Hells Angels.

Commercial director Serge Faberge is having an affair with Evelyne, the 18 year old fiancee of friend Hugh. His own pregnant wife Francoise usually does not mind his dalliances, until he actually walks out on her and their newborn baby to move in with Evelyne. The shoe is on the other foot when dashing stuntman Dado catches Evelyne's eye in Venice.

A black police officer discovers a cell of white supremacist vigilantes within his department.

A black police officer discovers a cell of white supremacist vigilantes within his department.

A racist insurance agent lives in a typical suburban neighborhood, but his bigoted world of taunting and harassing black people on and off the job is turned upside down when his skin inexplicably turns dark overnight.

Turner, a black American soldier, is given three days leave in Paris. Not knowing what to do with himself, he goes to a nightclub where he meets a French girl named Miriam. Their romance blossoms, but their love affair is darkened by Turner's impending departure and the specter of racial prejudice.

Turner, a black American soldier, is given three days leave in Paris. Not knowing what to do with himself, he goes to a nightclub where he meets a French girl named Miriam. Their romance blossoms, but their love affair is darkened by Turner's impending departure and the specter of racial prejudice.

Maverick director Melvin Van Peebles translates his own satirical novel to the screen with this multi-national portrait of race, class, and hypocrisy. The film's title refers to the name of a haute cuisine restaurant run by a self-satisfied conservative couple, Henri and Loretta. When the two find themselves overworked in the kitchen, they retreat to the local orphanage to find some cheap waitressing help, and the teenaged Diamantine fits the bill perfectly. The haughty couple has more plans for the girl than just waiting tables, however -- the conspicuously accommodating Henri and Loretta are actually bad-mouthing the girl behind her back to the townspeople and the restaurant's patrons. They go so far as to ask the naive Diamantine to pretend that she's pregnant, and she complies under the assumption that it's a harmless prank. When their intentions are revealed, however, the girl becomes wise to the couple's self-satisfied scheming, and sets her sights on revenge.

Maverick director Melvin Van Peebles translates his own satirical novel to the screen with this multi-national portrait of race, class, and hypocrisy. The film's title refers to the name of a haute cuisine restaurant run by a self-satisfied conservative couple, Henri and Loretta. When the two find themselves overworked in the kitchen, they retreat to the local orphanage to find some cheap waitressing help, and the teenaged Diamantine fits the bill perfectly. The haughty couple has more plans for the girl than just waiting tables, however -- the conspicuously accommodating Henri and Loretta are actually bad-mouthing the girl behind her back to the townspeople and the restaurant's patrons. They go so far as to ask the naive Diamantine to pretend that she's pregnant, and she complies under the assumption that it's a harmless prank. When their intentions are revealed, however, the girl becomes wise to the couple's self-satisfied scheming, and sets her sights on revenge.

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

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

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

As an African American family and friends gather in an apartment for a house party, two mischief-making devil-bats take human form in order to break up the party.

As an African American family and friends gather in an apartment for a house party, two mischief-making devil-bats take human form in order to break up the party.

A rapper finds himself possessed by the soul of a dead fashion designer; frequently switching personalities.

A rapper finds himself possessed by the soul of a dead fashion designer; frequently switching personalities.