*“He was the father of independent films,” said Tanya Hart, co-producer of the Pop Film (Steven and Sylvie Gautier) documentary Sweet Black, based on the life of Melvin Van Peebles (Sweet Sweetback’s Badaass Song). “That’s why you can make a living (making independent films) because he was the Godfather of Black cinema.”
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The Sweet Sweetback’s Badaass Song film debuted in 1971, 50 years ago. Melvin Van Peebles – an actor, director (Columbia Pictures’ Watermelon), composer and playwright – found it hard to get through the “Hollywood” door with content that realistically depicted the black experience, so he moved to France and built his own door to Hollywood. France, at the time, welcomed black actors, directors and filmmakers. Melvin not only starred in the film, that had a budget of $500,000, but he made an unheard of 10 million dollars upon its release.
“We just received the call for this in the spring. They needed a U. S. partner to shoot some stuff. It’s airing in France in March, 2022…we’re making plans to bring it to the U. S.,” said Tanya about how her company, Flying Free Films, became co-producers of the Sweet Black documentary. “The French people wanted to celebrate the 50th anniversary for Sweetback. He is still so popular over there.”
