Conjuring a unique poetic reflection on class, race and addiction, director Bill Gunn (a prolific playwright, activist, and actor) explores the life of Dr. Hess Green, a wealthy anthropologist researching an ancient African nation of blood-drinkers.
After a bizarre visitation from a troubled man (played by the director himself), Hess becomes prey to a spiralling bloodlust and soon after meets the beguiling Ganja, played by the brilliant Marlene Clark.
One of the inimitable Spike Lee’s favourite films – inspiring his ‘remake’, Da Sweet Blood of Jesus, which was also written by Gunn – and a genuine cult horror masterpiece, Ganja and Hess is a film of rich ambiguities located in-between African mythology and Christianity, a hazy dream of pain, desire, and politics.