Watermelon Man
Melvin Van Peebles, 1970, USA, 97 min.
Wednesday, August 6 at 8:00 p.m.
Admission – $4.00
Van Peebles often overlooked satire on race in 1970s America tells the story of an extremely bigoted white man who wakes up black. The film that preceded Van Peebles much-lauded Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song is ripe with edgy cultural critique, biting observations and serious humor. Although there was talk of both Alan Arkin and Jack Lemmon starring, Van Peebles cast African-American actor Godfrey Cambridge who plays the initial role of racist Jeff Gerber in "whiteface."
