Mario Van Peebles Accepts Lifetime Achievement in Cinema Award

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By Anna Paige

It’s been five years since the Montana International Film Festival launched, bringing films from around the globe to cinematic venues in Billings. This year, founder and executive director Brian Murnion brought his survivor materiality to the stage.

“It’s not easy to do an arts and entertainment nonprofit in Montana,” Murnion acknowledged during the opening event on Sept. 16 at the Babcock Theater in downtown Billings. “I know a lot of us enjoy that type of content, but it’s an uphill climb, and we couldn’t do it without the Billings community showing up and participating in this.”

Audiences in Billings took in three days of films from around the world while also celebrating a milestone event in the life of actor Mario Van Peebles, who was presented the Lifetime Achievement in Cinema by MINT.

A self-described filmmaker “trying to bring a little consciousness,” Peebles said this effort to insert consciousness into his work happens through curiosity, empathy toward others, and “finding our commonalities.”

“I think when we’re at our best, we represent something that other people see that inspires them,” said Peebles in an interview before being presented the award. “But it’s not really about us personally as individuals – It’s about what we are bringing out.”

Peebles is an international star of the film with 108 actor credits, 51 director credits, and 15 producer credits; described by Montana Film Commissioner Allison Whitmer as an acclaimed filmmaker and triple threat as a director, writer, producer, and “just a really nice guy.”

“This year is special for us because we have an opportunity to recognize an individual who has countlessly displayed determination and sacrifice with an unbridled commitment to his craft,” said Murnion, presenting Peebles the Lifetime Achievement Award during the opening film on Friday, where audiences gave Peebles a standing ovation.

A self-described filmmaker “trying to bring a little consciousness,” Peebles said this effort to insert consciousness into his work happens through curiosity, empathy toward others, and “finding our commonalities.”

“Beyond my plasticity as a Black man in America, what can I show us about ourselves that takes us in and goes, ‘I got it. I feel something for other folks.’ … Connect the dots, and that’s a fun challenge, and I hope that is a part of what this award says.”

At age 14, Peebles recognized the importance of how others feel in his presence when his father gave him some advice at a friend’s bar mitzvah.

“There were a lot of awkward kids there, all standing around, and no one was dancing. My sister and I thought we were on Soul Train. We were dancing our asses off, and people started coming around and applauding. And my dad watched from the side and waved us over, and he said, ‘There are two things that people gotta love about you in life: they gotta love who you are, and who they are with you. The way you are dancing is not inviting others to join you and be their best selves.”

Peebles and his sister pulled others to the dance floor and found that, “it was way better with them on the floor with us,” he said. Years later, the boy celebrating his bar mitzvah would produce Peebles’ second film.

“The karma you put out daily — the people where you have no idea what’s going to come back to you — is so amazing. It no longer surprises me when people come up to me and go, ‘I knew your dad, and I want to help you with this,’ or, ‘He changed my life with this.’

Peebles’s cinematic achievements echo the legacy of his father, Melvin. As a child in 1971, Mario appeared in his father’s film, “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song,” directed by Melvin, who played the lead role. Mario played his father’s character as a child.

Decades later, Peebles would follow his father’s lead in directing and producing films. “He made it easier for all of us who have followed,” said Peebles in an interview with Hollywood Reporter. “He was a pioneer, a maverick, and one cool cat.”

Peebles, who has been in Montana scoping the landscape and filmmaking infrastructure for a potential series, said he’s here “really getting a vibe to see if it’s somewhere that I think I could be for a while.” Pointing to the cowboy’s head, he said, “And I think you can tell from my hat that I am leaning toward it.”