Fresh off his triumphant homecoming at the 1967 San Francisco International Film Festival, Melvin Van Peebles finds himself in a very different America than the one he left in 1959. There are protests against the Vietnam war, a growing counter culture culminating in the ‘Summer of Love’, and The Civil Rights Movement evolving into cries of Black Power. Soaking up this chaos like a sponge, Melvin combines global politics, street conversations, and his favorite 1880's French Singer to create the worlds first hip-hop album, ‘Brer Soul’. From there, he goes to Hollywood for his first and only studio film, ‘Watermelon Man’. Facing oppressive studio oversight, Melvin uses every trick at his disposal to subvert Hollywood's racist pass from the inside out.Email us: behindtheslatepod@gmail.comInstagram: @behindtheslatepodTikTok: @behindtheslatepodYouTube: @behindtheslatepodcastJoin our weekly film club: https://www.instagram.com/arroyofilmclubProducer: Greg KleinschmidtSources:'Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song' by Melvin Van Peebles (1971)'2008 Interview with Red Bull Music Academy': https://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/lectures/melvin-van-peebles-dont-write-a-check-your-ass-cant-cash'Unstoppable: Melvin Van Peebles, Gordon Parks, and Ossie Davis in Conversation': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHuW5bxVamg'Interview with Olumide Productions': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRn9nr5qXOgMarlon Brando Eulogy for Bobby Hutton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g05Sb9CcnEInterview with Reelin In the Years: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B48FJ03-tkUVisionary Project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeRJLgAbW-4&list=PLCwE4GdJdVRLS1R8f9-G8hihJQKmePpCW&t=116s'How To Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (And Enjoy It)' (2005) Dir. Joe Angio'SUBVERTING HOLLYWOOD FROM THE INSIDE OUT' by Racquel Gates: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/fq.2014.68.1.9 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.