Max Julien

Uptight

Jules Dassin

Ruby Dee, Frank Silvera

Black militants building up an arsenal of weapons in preparation for a race war are betrayed by one of their own.

BaadAsssss Cinema

Isaac Julien

Larry Cohen, Tamara Dobson

With archive film clips and interviews, this brief look at a frequently overlooked historical period of filmmaking acts as an introduction rather than a complete record. It features interviews with some of the genre's biggest stars, like Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, and Richard Roundtree. Director Melvin Van Peebles discusses the historical importance of his landmark film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. For a contemporary perspective, the excitable Quentin Tarantino offers his spirited commentary and author/critic bell hooks provides some scholarly social analysis.

American Pimp

Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes

John S. Dickson, Antonio Fargas

Street pimps, all of them African-American, discuss their lives and work: getting started, being flamboyant, pimping in various U.S. cities, bringing a woman into their group, taking a woman from another pimp, and the rules and regulations of pimping. The men are clear: it's about money.

The Mack

Michael Campus

Max Julien, Don Gordon

Goldie returns from five years at the state pen and winds up king of the pimping game. Trouble comes in the form of two corrupt white cops and a crime lord who wants him to return to the small time.

Fucking Different São Paulo

Luciana Lemos, Joana Galvão

Eleven filmmakers from São Paulo, Brazil, unleash a vibrant mix of voices in the fourth installment of producer Kristian Petersen's conceptual short-film series, which gives gay and lesbian filmmakers free reign to tell untold stories. Selections include Gustavo Vinagre's "Dykeland," about an all-girl rock band; Ricky Mastro's "Felizes Para Sempre," about a surprisingly happy marriage; and Joana Galvão's animated "Um Olhar."

Getting Straight

Richard Rush

Elliott Gould, Candice Bergen

Graduate student Harry Bailey was once one of the most visible undergraduate activists on campus, but now that he's back studying for his master's, he's trying to fly right. Trouble is, the campus is exploding with various student movements, and Harry's girlfriend, Jan, is caught up in most of them. As Harry gets closer to finishing his degree, he finds his iconoclastic attitude increasingly aligned with the students rather than the faculty.

Thomasine & Bushrod

Gordon Parks Jr.

Max Julien, Vonetta McGee

A pair of thieves operate in the American South between 1911 and 1915, stealing from rich, white capitalists, and giving to Mexicans, Native Americans and poor whites.

The Black Klansman

Ted V. Mikels

Richard Gilden, Rima Kutner

After his daughter is killed by the KKK, a black man seeks revenge by passing as white and becoming a Klansman.

Psych-Out

Richard Rush

Susan Strasberg, Dean Stockwell

Jenny, a deaf runaway who has just arrived in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district to find her long-lost brother, a mysterious bearded sculptor known around town as The Seeker. She falls in with a psychedelic band, Mumblin' Jim, whose members include Stoney, Ben, and Elwood. They hide her from the fuzz in their crash pad, a Victorian house crowded with love beads and necking couples. Mumblin' Jim's truth-seeking friend Dave considers the band's pursuit of success "playing games," but he agrees to help Jennie anyway.

The Savage Seven

Richard Rush

Robert Walker Jr., Joanna Frank

Biker gang leader Kisum (Adam Roarke) loves waitress Marcia Little Hawk (Joanna Frank). Her brother Johnnie Little Hawk (Robert Walker, Jr.), the leader of a group of American Indians disapproves. At various times these two groups are adversaries and allies. The two groups join forces but crooked businessmen scheme to have them at each other's throats again. The theme song "Anyone for Tennis" is by Cream. The Iron Butterfly are heard playing their classic "Iron Butterfly Theme." Producer Dick Clark and director Richard Rush made "Psych-Out" earlier in the year.

How to Be a Player

Lionel C. Martin

Bill Bellamy, Lark Voorhies

Dray is a young playboy whose only objective in life seems to be to have sex with as many girls as he can without getting caught by his girlfriend Lisa. Dray's sister Jenny and her friend Katrina plan to show him that the way he lives is wrong and organize a party in Malibu, inviting all of his girlfriends.