Melvin Van Peebles 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.
Mario Van Peebles is an American film director and actor best known for appearing in Heartbreak Ridge in 1986 and known for directing and starring in New Jack City in 1991 and USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage in 2016. He is the son of actor and filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles, whom he portrayed in the 2003 biopic Baadasssss!, which he also co-wrote and directed.
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song is a 1971 American independent blaxploitation action thriller film written, co-produced, scored, edited, directed by, and starring Melvin Van Peebles. His son Mario Van Peebles also appears in a small role, playing the title character as a young boy. The film tells the picaresque story of a poor black man fleeing from the white police authorities.
Baadasssss! is a 2003 American biographical drama film, written, produced, directed by, and starring Mario Van Peebles. The film is based on the struggles of Van Peebles' father Melvin Van Peebles, as he attempts to film and distribute Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, a film that was widely credited with showing Hollywood that a viable African-American audience existed, and thus influencing the creation of the Blaxploitation genre. The film also stars Joy Bryant, Nia Long, Ossie Davis, Paul Rodriguez, Rainn Wilson, and Terry Crews.
Rappin' is a 1985 American film directed by Joel Silberg, written by Adam Friedman and Robert J. Litz, produced by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus and starring Mario Van Peebles. The film is a sequel to Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo, and is also known as Breakdance 3. Although it features Ice-T, Rappin' has a plot unconnected to the previous two films and features different lead characters and locations. It is also considered to be a companion piece to the documentary Breakin' 'n' Enterin'.
Identity Crisis is a 1989 comedy film directed by Melvin Van Peebles. Written by Mario Van Peebles, the film is about a rapper who winds up sharing his body with the soul of a dead fashion designer, switching between personalities every time he is struck on the head.
Carlito's Way: Rise to Power is a 2005 prequel to Brian De Palma's 1993 film Carlito's Way. It is based on the 1975 novel Carlito's Way by Edwin Torres. The previous film was based on the 1979 Torres novel After Hours, but was retitled to avoid it being confused with Martin Scorsese’s 1985 film of the same name. The film was written and directed by Michael Bregman, who produced the first film. His father, Martin Bregman, produced both films. The film was released in limited theaters 20 days prior to being released on DVD.
Panther is a 1995 cinematic adaptation of Melvin Van Peebles's novel Panther, produced and directed by Mario Van Peebles. The drama film portrays the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, tracing the organization from its founding through its decline in a compressed timeframe. It was the first narrative feature-film to depict the Black Panther Party.
Nelson Mandela (1918−2013) was an anti-apartheid activist and former president of South Africa.
Hard Luck is a 2006 American thriller film written, produced and directed by Mario Van Peebles, who also co-stars in the film. The film stars Wesley Snipes, Jacquelyn Quinones, Cybill Shepherd, James Liao and Bill Cobbs. The film was released direct-to-DVD in the United States on October 17, 2006.
Judgment Day is a 1998 direct-to-video science-fiction action film directed by John Terlesky and starring Mario Van Peebles, Suzy Amis and Ice-T. It was Amis' final film before her retirement and is the first CineTel film that deals with a disaster in the sci-fi genre.
ConfessionsOfa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha is a 2008 film by Melvin Van Peebles. It is based on Van Peebles' 1982 Broadway musical Waltz of the Stork and his graphic novel of the same name. The film was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2008 and was the Closing Night feature in the Maryland Film Festival in May 2008. Van Peebles plays the film's main character from boyhood to age 47.
Full Eclipse is a 1993 science fiction crime film directed by Anthony Hickox. Starring Mario Van Peebles and Bruce Payne, the story is set in Los Angeles where the police department has assembled a unique squad of officers who possess the ability to turn into werewolves. The tagline of the film was: There's a new police force on the streets... and they only come out at night.
All Things Fall Apart is a 2011 American direct-to-video drama film directed by Mario Van Peebles and starring Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Ray Liotta, Mario Van Peebles, and Lynn Whitfield. It was filmed in Michigan and premiered at the Miami International Film Festival.
American Warships is a 2012 science fiction war film directed by Thunder Levin and distributed by The Asylum. It premiered on the Syfy Channel on May 15, 2012. In the tradition of The Asylum's film catalog, the film is an extremely low-budget mockbuster of the Hasbro Studios/Universal Pictures film Battleship.
We the Party is a 2012 comedy film written and directed by Mario Van Peebles and starring Mandela Van Peebles, Simone Battle, Moises Arias, Mario Van Peebles, and Snoop Dogg. Set in an ethnically diverse Los Angeles high school, it focuses on five friends as they deal with "romance, money, prom, college, sex, bullies, Facebook, fitting in, standing out, and finding themselves".
Van Peebles is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Carlos Emmanuel Olivero, better known as Carlito Olivero, is an American singer and actor of Puerto Rican and Mexican descent. From 2007 to 2009, he was part of the Latin boy band Menudo after taking part in MTV's Making Menudo. Moving to Los Angeles in 2009, he appeared in various singing and acting events and in 2012 appeared in the film We the Party directed by Mario Van Peebles. In 2013, he auditioned for season 3 of the American singing competition series The X Factor and was the last contestant eliminated in the competition. He was mentored by Paulina Rubio.
Armed is a 2018 action film written and directed by Mario Van Peebles. It stars Van Peebles and William Fichtner.
Outlaw Posse is a 2024 American western film written by, directed by and starring Mario Van Peebles. It also stars Whoopi Goldberg, Cedric the Entertainer, Edward James Olmos, John Carroll Lynch, William Mapother, Cam Gigandet, Allen Payne, Neal McDonough, and M. Emmet Walsh in his final film role before his death in March 19, 2024.
