Watermelon Man (15) + Cinq cent balles

Best known for Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, Van Peebles career has always been informed by a strong commitment to the spirit of independent cinema and despite being a studio picture, his distinct approach is apparent throughout.

Watermelon Man tells the story of a bigoted white American man (expertly played by stand-up comic Godfrey Cambridge, donning whiteface for the role) who wakes up to discover to his horror, that he has turned into a Black man. The film takes this fantastical concept and manages to infuse both a sense of empathy for the predicament of the central character alongside functioning as a social critique of US race relations and Black radicalism.

Cinq cent balles is a rarely screening early short by Van Peebles made during his time in Paris which tells the story of a child trying to retrieve a 500 francs note.