Bill Gunn

Tyler Czarnecki is the owner of an apartment building haunted by a pair of flesh-eating Babylonian demons who eat the tenants and treat Tyler as their slave. While he clearly resents his lot, Tyler limits his rebellion to grumbling to Rabisu, the lesser of the demons and, from all appearances, Tyler's only real friend. Tyler's sister Amy, a police officer, is indifferent to his plight - or at least too distracted by her shady dealings with the local gang of vampires to get involved. However, the status quo is upset when an attractive young woman named Donna moves into Tyler's building. While Donna is clearly on the run from something, Tyler takes a liking to her and decides to save her from becoming the demons' next meal.

The sentimental tale of an elderly Jewish tailor who lost his faith in God and himself after being plagued by bad luck and with a seriously ill wife. Enter a black Jewish angel from Heaven, on probation, who has to earn his wings by convincing the depressed tailor that his life does have meaning. Based on a Bernard Balamud short story from his prize-winning collection, "The Magic Barrel."

Flirting with the conventions of blaxploitation and the horror cinema, Bill Gunn's revolutionary independent film GANJA & HESS is a highly stylized and utterly original treatise on sex, religion, and African American identity.

Flirting with the conventions of blaxploitation and the horror cinema, Bill Gunn's revolutionary independent film GANJA & HESS is a highly stylized and utterly original treatise on sex, religion, and African American identity.

Harry Belafonte stars as the Angel Levine, a black Jewish angel sent to help a down-and-out Jewish tailor named Morris (Zero Mostel). It's Belafonte's job to help Morris value life as he struggles to care for his gravely ill wife, make ends meet and find his place in the world. The film is an adaptation of the story by Bernard Malamud (who also wrote The Natural).

It tough keeping tenants who stick around long enough to pay the rent when you're a nice guy like Tyler (Derek Dziak), who has to answer to two hungry demons (Mike Madgiak and Refugio Molina) who haunt the place -- and keep gobbling up his profits despite his lame attempts to sway them. As a landlord, he's out of his league. But then a likeable girl (Erin Myers) on the run shows up, looking for a safe place to live.

Hal Ashby makes his directorial debut with this acclaimed social satire starring Beau Bridges as the wealthy but naïve Elgar Enders, who buys a Brooklyn tenement, plans to evict the African American tenants and renovate the building. But as he becomes more involved with the residents and especially the beautiful, multiracial Lanie, Enders starts to reconsider his goals. Lee Grant nabbed an Oscar nod for playing Enders's capricious mother.

Harry Belfaonte portrays a black angel from Heaven, on probation for not doing his heavenly job. He has been assigned to provide a miracle for an elderly and improverished Jewish tailor. The tailor refuses to believe in the angel, which places the miracle and the angel in

Harry Belfaonte portrays a black angel from Heaven, on probation for not doing his heavenly job. He has been assigned to provide a miracle for an elderly and improverished Jewish tailor. The tailor refuses to believe in the angel, which places the miracle and the angel in