Release Date: 09/102/04            Source: RETAiL R1 DVD
      Theater Date: 05/28/04            Runtime: 108 MiN 50 SEC
      DVD Date:    09/14/04            Subs:    French,Spanish,Portuguesse

      Video Codec:  XViD 1.0            Video Bitrate: ~752 kbp
      Audio Codec:  MP3 VBR 2Ch        Audio Bitrate: 135kbps 48kHz
      Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1              Resolution: 560x320

      Frame Rate:  23.976 fps          Genre: Drama
      IMDB Rating:  6.9/10              Files: 696MB 50x15MB

      IMDB Link:    http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0367790/


                Plot               

      Melvin Van Peebles stunned the world for the first time, with
      his debut feature, The Story of a Three Day Pass. Filmed in
      France and selected as the French entry in the San Francisco
      Film Festival, Melvin's film was awarded the top prize. Saying
      it was controversial would be an understatement. In 1968 for a
      black man to walk up to the podium and accept the top festival
      award for a film he had to go abroad to make--now that's how
      you make your mark. After his comedy, Watermelon Man, Melvin
      was determined to push the Hollywood boundaries with the
      groundbreaking, and even more controversial, Sweet Sweetback's
      Baadasssss Song. Turned down by every major studio including
      Columbia, where he had a three-picture deal, Melvin was forced
      to basically self-finance. Risking everything he had Melvin
      delivered to the world the first Black Ghetto hero on the big
      screen--whether they were ready or not! More than 30 years
      later, history is being fashioned again in the telling of this
      very tale. Mario Van Peebles, Melvin's son, directs an honest
      and revealing portrait of his pioneering father. Mario now
      tells the story of the making of Melvin Van Peebles' landmark
      1971 film, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, including
      Melvin's struggles to raise money to fund the film under the
      guise of creating a black porno film. Melvin had ducked
      creditors, the unions and had to bail out his camera crew
      after they were arrested because a white cop decided a bunch
      of Negroes and hippies couldn't have come by that camera
      equipment honestly. Despite death threats and temporarily
      losing sight in one eye, Melvin somehow managed to whip into
      shape a rag-tag, multi-racial crew and finish the film that
      would give birth to birth of a new era which was about to
      explode: Independent Black Cinema.


                Cast             


      Mario Van Peebles.....................Melvin Van Peebles
      Joy Bryant.....................................Priscilla
      T.K. Carter...................................Bill Cosby
      Terry Crews........................................Big T
      Ossie Davis......................................Grandad
      David Alan Grier...........................Clyde Houston
      Nia Long..........................................Sandra
      Paul Rodriguez...............................Jose Garcia
      Saul Rubinek.......................................Howie
      Vincent Schiavelli.................................Jerry
      Khleo Thomas.......................................Mario
      Rainn Wilson.................................Bill Harris
      Karimah Westbrook.................................Ginnie
      Len Lesser.........................Manny & Mort Goldberg
      Sally Struthers......................................Roz
      Directed by............................Mario Van Peebles