Thread by @Variety

Melvin Van Peebles, the influential filmmaker behind “Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song,” and father of director and actor Mario Van Peebles, has died at 89. bit.ly/2XDD69k

“Dad knew that Black images matter,” Mario Van Peebles said in a statement from the Criterion Collection. “If a picture is worth a thousand words, what was a movie worth? We want to be the success we see, thus we need to see ourselves being free.” bit.ly/2XDD69k

“True liberation did not mean imitating the colonizer’s mentality,” the statement reads. “It meant appreciating the power, beauty and interconnectivity of all people.” bit.ly/2XDD69k

“Sweet Sweetback” will be screened at the New York Film Festival this week for a 50th anniversary tribute. bit.ly/2XDD69k

“In an unparalleled career distinguished by relentless innovation, boundless curiosity and spiritual empathy, Melvin Van Peebles made an indelible mark on the international cultural landscape,” the Criterion Collection said. bit.ly/2XDD69k

Van Peebles’ “Sweet Sweetback” was a groundbreaking film a few times over. The filmmaker financed and released the film independently, paving the way for an entire ecosystem of indie cinema. bit.ly/3EIEXKY

Because he couldn’t afford a traditional marketing campaign, he used the film’s soundtrack album to build awareness for the movie. bit.ly/3EIEXKY

Most crucially, he proved that films by Black filmmakers about Black life in America could be a profitable endeavor, presaging the explosion in Blaxploitation cinema of the 1970s. bit.ly/3EIEXKY

Barry Jenkins wrote, “He made the most of every second, of EVERY single damn frame and admittedly, while the last time I spent any time with him was MANY years ago, it was a night in which he absolutely danced his face off. The man just absolutely LIVED.” bit.ly/3EIEXKY