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Ganja & Hess

Directed by Bill Gunn

Release: 1973
Runtime: 113
Country: U.S.
Language: English
Director: Bill Gunn
Writer: Bill Gunn
Producer: Chiz Schults

Flirting with the conventions of blaxploitation and horror, Bill Gunn’s revolutionary independent film Ganja & Hess is a highly stylized and utterly original treatise on sex, religion, and African American identity. Duane Jones (Night of the Living Dead) stars 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.

Later recut and released in an inferior version, this edition represents the original release, restored by The Museum of Modern Art with support from The Film Foundation, and mastered in HD from a 35mm negative.

Reviews More Reviews

"A sensual, scholarly, magic-realist exploration of black history and black desire."

– A. O. Scott, The New York Times

"An underground classic! The most complicated, intriguing, subtle, sophisticated and passionate black film of the '70s."

– – James Monaco, American Film Now

"A blood-soaked masterpiece. One of the most profound, surreal and horrifying love stories ever made."

– – Complex

"A visionary filmmaker."

– – Richard Brody, The New Yorker

Gallery

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Technical Info

  • Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
  • Color: Color

Press & Promotion:

playdates

Venue City Date
Ambler Theater Ambler 1613019600February 11 - March 1, 2021
Coolidge Corner Theatre Brookline 1602734400October 15 - October 31, 2020
County Theater Doylestown 1613019600February 11 - March 1, 2021
Fox Theatre Toronto 1612414800February 4 - May 7, 2021
Hiway Theater Jenkintown 1613019600February 11 - March 1, 2021
Hollywood Theatre Portland 1602561600October 13 - October 31, 2020
Indiana University Cinema Bloomington 1611810000January 28 - March 18, 2021
Nickelodeon Theatre Columbia 1603166400October 20, 2020 - May 14, 2021
Princeton Garden Theatre Princeton 1613019600February 11 - March 1, 2021
Rivertown Film Society Nyack 1615525200March 12 - April 16, 2021