A true movie legend. <\/p>
The movie world has lost another icon with the sad news that legendary filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles has died at the age of 89 it was announced on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Van Peebles was an actor, writer, director and producer and was an icon of Black cinema who made some important and groundbreaking films that in many ways still feel as culturally relevant today as they did when they were first released.<\/p>\n
Some of his projects that are very much worthy of a watch include Watermelon Man and Sweet Sweetback\u2019s Baadasssss Song and many from the entertainment world have spoken about his passing and the impact that he had on them and on cinema in general.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to not let yourself believe you can\u2019t. Do what you can do within the framework you have. And don\u2019t look outside. Look inside.\u201d
\u2015 the iconic artist, filmmaker, actor, playwright, novelist, composer and sage Melvin Van Peebles, who has gone home at the age of 89. pic.twitter.com\/36BQKzN9G7<\/a><\/p>\u2014 Ava DuVernay (@ava) September 22, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote>Director Spike Lee also shared a post on his Instagram, saying: \u201cI am so saddened by the loss of my brother Melvin Van Pebbles who brought independent black cinema to the forefront with his groundbreaking film Sweet Sweetback\u2019s Badasssss Song (he personally signed this poster to me). Melvin was a big supporter of my film career. He even showed up to the set of Do The Right Thing. Damn, we have lost another giant!\u201d<\/p>\n
It was his son Mario Van Peebles who revealed his passing and issued a touching tribute to his legacy and the huge strides he made in making the silver screen a place where the Black community and their stories were better represented. \u201cDad knew that Black images matter. If a picture is worth a thousand words, what was a movie worth? We want to be the success we see, thus we need to see ourselves being free. True liberation did not mean imitating the colonizer\u2019s mentality. It meant appreciating the power, beauty and interconnectivity of all people.\u201d<\/p>\n
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