To celebrate Black History Month, the Cinémathèque québécoise will be screening 15 iconic Blaxploitation movies. This genre, that hit its peaks in the 70s in the US, in a volatile and dissenting political, economical and social context, broke the color codes. The outdated portraits gallery which reduced Black people to servile objects is being replaced by a new esthetic of identy empowerment. This movie cycle intends to shed light on a rich and heteroclite filmography where various sub-genres intersect (action, martial arts, horror, western, drama) to disrupt the essentialist perception of Afro-American (life) experiences.Pam Grier, Tamara Dobson, Diahann Carroll, Richard Roundtree, Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte are showing, to those willing to see, that Black is beautiful!
In 1780, Prince Mamuwalde is transformed into a vampire after visiting Dracula. Condemned to live in a coffin, he is awakened in 1972 and sows terror in Los Angeles.
William Crain
William Crain is an American film and television director. He was one of the first black filmmakers from a major film school to achieve commercial success. Crain was born in Columbus, Ohio. A graduate of UCLA's film school, Crain, unlike many of the so-called "L.A. Rebellion" filmmakers who made films of a deeply personal or political nature, made work consisting almost entirely of mainstream and genre driven works. Throughout the 1970s he directed TV shows and movies. In 1972, he directed Blacula. While largely ignored by critics, the film has become somewhat of a cult favorite and made a name for actor William Marshall who played the title character. Crain did other films, then returned to TV show installments which he continues to do today.