Melvin Van Peebles
Cult director died at the age of 89
Melvin Van Peebles influenced iconic directors like Quentin Tarantino.
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Filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles died at the age of 89. The blaxploitation pioneer has influenced cinema to this day with his work.
Director, actor and musician Melvin Van Peebles died in New York City at the age of 89. This is unanimously reported by the US media, citing a statement from the family. His son Mario Van Peebles (64), who also works as a director and actor in the film business, is quoted as saying: “Father knew that black pictures are important. If a picture is worth a thousand words, what was a film? value?”
Van Peebles, who was born in Chicago, is considered the figurehead and co-founder of the so-called blaxploitation wave in the 1970s. The cheap productions represented a deliberately exaggerated degree of violence and are mostly to be found in the gangster genre. The films mainly feature black actors. His best-known work is the thriller “Sweet Sweetbacks Song” from 1971, for which he wrote the script, sat in the director’s chair and played one of the leading roles.
Quentin Tarantino is an avowed fan of the blaxploitation genre
Filmmaker Van Peebles is also known as the godfather of black cinema, as he has influenced Hollywood productions to this day. Probably the most famous fan of this genre is cult director Quentin Tarantino (58), who took over and incorporated countless elements in numerous of his productions. For example, his films “Django Unchained”, “Inglourious Basterds” or “Kill Bill” and “Jackie Brown” have borrowed from the Blaxploitation works.