Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song: A Guerilla Filmmaking Manifesto

by Melvin Van Peebles, Mario Van Peebles (Introduction)

In 1971, Melvin Van Peebles's independently produced film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song became the top-grossing independent film of that year, helped usher in the blaxploitation genre, and served as the flag-bearer for independent filmmakers. Melvin's original diary of his struggles to conceptualize, finance, film, and distribute Sweetback will become an indispensable guide for aspiring filmmakers. Melvin is the authentic pioneer, and his achievement—and the determination he displayed—are eye-opening and inspiring. As son Mario Van Peebles (who made his debut in Sweetback) recalls in his Introduction, "[Melvin] was forced to self-finance, constantly on the brink of ruin, his crew got arrested and jailed, death threats, and yet [at first] he refused to submit his film to the all-white MPAA ratings board for approval. The film then received an X rating. My dad, true to form, printed t-shirts that read ‘Rated X ... by an all white jury' and made it part of his marketing campaign." Mario reflects on his father's example and contrasts Melvin's guerrilla filmmaking with the possibilities—technological, economic, and cultural—open to filmmakers, especially black filmmakers, today. Photographs are included in this incredible filmmaking manifesto.

Genres: Film, Memoir

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Melvin Van Peebles (born Melvin Peebles; August 21, 1932 – September 21, 2021) was an American actor, filmmaker, writer, and composer. He worked as an active filmmaker into the 2000s. His feature film debut, The Story of a Three-Day Pass (1967), was based on his own French-language novel La Permission and was shot in France, as it was difficult for a black American director to get work at the time. The film won an award at the San Francisco International Film Festival which gained him the interest of Hollywood studios, leading to his American feature debut Watermelon Man, in 1970. Eschewing further overtures from Hollywood, he used the successes he had so far to bankroll his work as an independent filmmaker.

In 1971, he released his best-known work, creating and starring in the film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, considered one of the earliest and best-regarded examples of the blaxploitation genre. He followed this up with the musical, Don't Play Us Cheap, based on his own stage play, and continued to make films, write novels and stage plays in English and in French through the next several decades; his final films include the French-language film Le Conte du ventre plein (2000) and the absurdist film Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha (2008). His son, filmmaker and actor Mario Van Peebles, appeared in several of his works and portrayed him in the 2003 biographical film Baadasssss!.

Reviews

[Tameka Fleming]

I am disappointed that this book was published. I have to say, for this to have been published and be so light on facts and details feels almost like stealing. This book should be apart of the public domain, as in--FREE! The first half of the book is about Melvin Van Peebles retelling the hoops he had to jump through to get the film made and in theaters in 1970 then the second half of the book, Mario Van Peebles [his son] literally retells the same stories. There was so much more we could have learned that is not in this book. What a shame.

[Reka Beezy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t know anything about Melvin Van Peebles; I just vaguely knew of his son. I just saw this on sale at the bookstore and picked it up. I thought it was interesting how he was all black power, yet he chose to marry and have kids with a white woman. That’s very telling. Anyway, I could barely understand his language half the time and the movie lowkey sounded like porn even though it was supposed to be about revolution? Yeah, ok.

[Oliver Brackenbury · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's fun, for sure. There's no denying Melvin Van Peeble's skill at turning a phrase and the chapter by his son is enjoyable. In fact, if you want to get the story of how such an important film was made then I'd actually recommend you watch Mario's portrayal of his father in "Baadasssss". Melvin's take is important, obviously, but it is riddled with so much of his signature bravado that it's difficult to feel like you aren't reading a lot of what got him so far in life - advertising for himself, for his (I'm sorry) personal brand.

I don't really think you have to have seen the film before reading this. I watched it years ago and, frankly, fell asleep along with my date. This would be why I largely stopped reading when I got to the back end of the book with it's copies of the shooting script and dialogue. It's an important film, yet it understandably suffers from all the difficulties Melvin encountered and shortcuts he had to take. I honestly think the story of how and why it was made is more important for a modern audience and almost certainly bound to be more impactful.

So yes, read the first half of this book!

As for the filmmaking side of things, you won't learn a whole hell of a lot from the technical side. That's okay, you can find that in plenty of places. Same goes for the process, which Melvin had to half re-invent to get around various constrictions of both the times and his budget. The valuable thing to take away, from a filmmaking perspective, is the highly improvisational and never-say-die spirit which carried Melvin through such an extreme experience.