Pleading the Blood

<p><b>The definitive look at one of the most important Black art films and original filmmakers of the 1970s.<br /><br /></b>Bill Gunn's <i>Ganja & Hess</i> (1973) has across the decades attained a sizable cult following among African American cinema devotees art house aficionados and horror fans thanks to its formal complexity and rich allegory. <i>Pleading the Blood</i> is the first full-length study of this cult classic. <br /><br /><i>Ganja & Hess</i> was withdrawn almost immediately after its New York premiere by its distributor because Gunn's poetic re-fashioning of the vampire genre allegedly failed to satisfy the firm's desire for a by-the-numbers blaxploitation horror flick for quick sell-off in the urban market. Its current status as one of the classic works of African American cinema has recently been confirmed by the Blu-ray release of its restored version by its continued success in screenings at repertory houses museums and universities and by an official remake <i>Da Sweet Blood of Jesus</i> (2014) directed by Spike Lee one of the original picture's longtime champions.<br /><br /><i>Pleading the Blood</i> draws on Gunn's archived papers screenplay drafts and storyboards as well as interviews with the living major creative participants to offer a comprehensive absorbing account of the influential movie and its highly original filmmaker.</p>