Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song

Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song is an American crime drama about a black man in Los Angeles who grows up in a brothel and, as an adult, performs in sex shows there. After he rescues a Black Panther from two white policemen, he becomes a hunted man and flees across the city toward the Mexican border, helped along the way by people in the ghetto and by a group of disillusioned Hells Angels. The film follows his attempt to stay ahead of the police pursuing him.

Melvin Van Peebles directed, wrote and produced the film, and also stars as Sweetback, a role shared with his son Mario Van Peebles, who plays the character as a boy. Simon Chuckster, John Dullaghan, John Amos and Rhetta Hughes appear in supporting parts. It was Van Peebles's second feature as director, following Watermelon Man the previous year.

The film was released in March 1971 and, on a modest budget, went on to gross about 15 million dollars worldwide, a large return for a low-cost independent production. Its reception since has been more mixed: on IMDb it holds 5.5 out of 10 across roughly 6,300 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 5.1 out of 10 from a much smaller number of votes.