A Life in Film

May 2, 2010 | Brooklyn Public Library, Central Library | New York City

With Melvin Van Peebles and Greg Tate

Co-sponsored by the Brooklyn Public Library

Director, actor, screenwriter, playwright, novelist, and composer Melvin Van Peebles discusses his work with Greg Tate, journalist, cultural critic, and musician. The two artists are collaborating on Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (the Hood Opera), a musical adaptation of the 1971 iconic film, which was written, composed, and directed by Van Peebles. The film was a crucial work of Afro-American cinema and the beginnings of the Blaxploitation genre. Greg Tate’s Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber provides the music for the new opera.