This film is currently unavailable

Ganja & Hess
Bill Gunn’s revolutionary masterpiece about two vampiric lovers received a standing ovation and the Critics’ Choice prize when it screened at Cannes in 1973.
Director: Bill Gunn
Overview
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 ways to satisfy their addiction to blood and power.
An actor, playwright and screenwriter, as well as a director, Bill Gunn was described by Spike Lee as “one of the most under-appreciated filmmakers of his time.” In fact, Lee was such a huge fan of his work that he remade Ganja & Hess, at times shot for shot, as Da Sweet Blood of Jesus in 2014.
Related

Let the Right One In Let the Right One In
Horror 2008 115 mins Director: Tomas Alfredson
A twelve-year-old boy befriends a mysterious girl with a dark secret, in Tomas Alfredson’s grownup tale of childhood vampirism.

The Love Witch The Love Witch
Comedy 2016 121 mins Director: Anna Biller
A modern-day witch uses spells and magic to get men to fall in love with her, in Anna Biller's outrageous tribute to 1960s Technicolor melodramas.

Amulet Amulet
Horror 2020 99 mins Director: Romola Garai
Old sins refuse to be forgotten in Romola Garai’s gothic horror and hauntingly atmospheric debut feature.

Red Rooms Red Rooms
Drama 2023 118 mins Director: Pascal Plante
The allure of the serial killer is explored in this deeply unsettling and unforgettable exploration of the impact of extreme violence.

Sleep Sleep
Horror 2023 94 mins Director: Jason Yu
A recently married couple find their lives turning upside down as a result of the husband’s nocturnal behaviour.

Starve Acre Starve Acre
Horror 2023 98 mins Director: Dan Kokotajlo
Dark and sinister forces invade a couple’s home in this wildly eerie British folk horror, with unflinching performances from Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark.

Daughters of the Dust Daughters of the Dust
Drama 1991 112 mins Director: Julie Dash
Julie Dash’s groundbreaking Daughters of the Dust remains urgent and poetic and continues to resonate, inspiring Beyoncé’s iconic visual album Lemonade.

I Am Not a Witch I Am Not a Witch
Drama 2017 93 mins Director: Rungano Nyoni
Welsh-raised, Zambian-born Rungano Nyoni delivers a dazzling debut with this darkly satirical fairy tale about a little girl accused of being a witch.

Papicha Papicha
Drama 2019 108 mins Director: Mounia Meddour
As the Algerian Civil War unfolds, a group of determined young women come face to face with a new, dangerous reality.

I Am Samuel I Am Samuel
Documentary 2021 68 mins Director: Pete Murimi
Kenyan couple Samuel and Alex remain committed to each other despite the danger and hardship facing them in Peter Murimi’s moving documentary portrait.

Casablanca Beats Casablanca Beats
Drama 2021 102 mins Director: Nabil Ayouch
Palme d'Or nominated film about a former rapper who takes a teaching job at a cultural centre in a working-class neighbourhood in Casablanca.

Losing Ground Losing Ground
Drama 1982 86 mins Director: Kathleen Collins
A philosophy professor (Seret Scott) and an artist (Bill Gunn) reach a crisis point in their marriage, in Kathleen Collins’ groundbreaking and timeless masterpiece.

Amores perros Amores perros
Drama 2000 148 mins Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Alejandro González Iñárritu's (Birdman, The Revenant) gripping debut feature is a savagely brilliant triptych around the theme of animalistic desires.

Drugstore Cowboy Drugstore Cowboy
Drama 1989 101 mins Director: Gus Van Sant
Matt Dillon and his not-so-merry band of junkies rob pharmacies and cheat death.

Maurice Maurice
Drama 1987 140 mins Director: James Ivory
Merchant Ivory’s landmark adaptation of E M Forster’s classic LGBTQ+ novel and a precursor to the James Ivory-scripted Call Me By Your Name, starring Hugh Grant, James Wilby and Rupert Graves.

Architecton Architecton
Documentary 2024 98 mins Director: Viktor Kossakovsky
Victor Kossakovsky’s film essay looks at the way we have constructed our built world through a series of breathtaking sequences.

Layla Layla
2024 100 mins Director: Amrou Al-Kadhi
A British-Palestinian drag performer catches the eye of a strait-laced white man in Amrou Al-Kadhi’s stunning, semi-autobiographical debut.

When I Saw You When I Saw You
Drama 2014 94 mins Director: Annemarie Jacir
Following the Six-Day War in 1967, a young Palestinian refugee boy yearns to be reunited with his father and joins a band of freedom fighters.