'Ganja & Hess' Gets US Re-Release

‘Ganja & Hess’ Gets US Re-Release

A Black American classic film is getting a fresh look and a nationwide re-release.

Later butchered by Hollywood distributors and mismarketed as a seedy grindhouse Blaxploitation flick after its original 1973 release, Ganja & Hess is actually a revolutionary independent film. A highly stylized musing on sex, religion, and African American identity, iconic director Bill Gunn’s horror-infused masterpiece stars Duane Jones (Night of the Living Dead) as anthropologist Hess Green, who is stabbed with an ancient ceremonial dagger by his unstable assistant (director Bill Gunn), bestowing upon him the blessing of immortality…and the curse of an unquenchable thirst for blood. When the assistant’s beautiful and outspoken wife Ganja (Marlene Clark) comes searching for her missing husband, she and Hess form an unexpected partnership. Together, they explore just how much power blood holds.

Take a look at the trailer below:

Ganja & Hess was restored by The Museum of Modern Art with support from The Film Foundation and mastered from a 35mm negative. The film will run in it’s original iteration in New York, Cleveland, Winnipeg, Columbia, Ottowa, Nashville, Chicago, Iowa City, San Fransisco, and Portland over the duration of the summer, kicking off in NYC May 30 – June 7 at the Metrograph. You can check when it will hit your city HERE.

Will you be watching??