Ganja & Hess. 1973. USA. Written and directed by Bill Gunn. With Marlene Clark, Duane Jones and Samuel L. Waymon. Music by Waymon. Screening in the restored 35mm print by The Museum of Modern Art with support from The Film Foundation. 110 min.
Original in vision and not confined by conventional ideas of horror, Bill Gunn’s arthouse classic Ganja & Hess is a revelation of religion, sex, and African-American identity in film. Well dressed, wealthy, and intelligent archaeologist Dr. Hess Green (Duane Jones, from Night of the Living Dead) is violently stabbed by his assistant with an ancient ceremonial dagger. Seemingly immortal and with a newfound insatiable taste for blood as a result, Hess aligns with the beautiful and elegant Ganja Meda (Marlene Clark), his assistant’s ex-wife, to begin a coupled journey exploring the limits of life, sex, and death. Ganja & Hess is an essential independent film that blurs the lines of genre, heroism, and narrative structure to dismantle Black and gender stereotypes. Presented in a restored 35mm print by The Museum of Modern Art with support from the Film Foundation.
Suicide by Sunlight. 2019. USA. Written and directed by Nikyatu Jusu. 17 min.
Valentina, a day-walking Black vampire protected from the sun by her melanin, is forced to restrain her bloodlust to regain custody of her estranged daughters.