It is pretty difficult not to be attracted to Isaac Julien's fascinating documentary on that rarely discussed movie genre known as blaxploitation. It covers an era of filmmaking that is not only often ignored, but also regularly dismissed by the cinema cognoscenti. There are, of course, the ubiquitous pundits and film historians with their over-intellectualised tuppence worth, but more to the point, there are some rare anecdotal gems from actors/producers Melvin Van Peebles and Fred Williams, talking about the controversy surrounding the making of many of these films, such as the notable Sweet Back.

We are given a sense of what these movies represented for black cinemagoers, why they were made and who was making them, as well as their significance in terms of audience figures, which were phenomenal. We are taken on a cradle-to-grave tour, from the problems of incorporating the term exploitation, to the choice of soundtracks and costumes, up to the influence of blaxploitation on today's cinema, culminating most famously in 1998, with Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown, the star of which, Pam Grier, talks candidly about the gravity at that time of casting roles for black women as sexy, powerful heroes, instead of the usual submissive victims.

Obviously, it would be hard to make this documentary without touching upon the civil rights movement, but not to worry - the cake isn't over-egged here. The only real moments of tedium come in the form of an over-animated and slightly irritating Tarantino, enlightening us with the information that when he watched one of these movies for the first time "he felt like he was in a black world." Also unnecessary are the meaningless and irrelevant quotes punctuating the film which keep interrupting the flow every five-or-so minutes.

All said, though, this is an entertainingly informative documentary about one of the most unique genres of 20th century moviemaking - not just something for hardcore cinema buffs to crow about.