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.

Larry Cohen
as Self

Tamara Dobson
as Self

Ron Finley
as Self

Pam Grier
as Self

Ed Guerrero
as Self

Isaac Hayes
as Self

Gloria Hendry
as Self

bell hooks
as Self

Roy Innis
as Self

Jesse Jackson
as Self