Episode 205: Jamma Fanaka Won't Go Down Without a Fight

== Show Notes ==
: We discuss the career of independent Writer/Director Jamaa Fanaka, his lifelong struggle making films, and his role in the L.A Rebellion. His features under discussion include Welcome Home, Brother Charles, Emma Mae, and the Penitentiary trilogy.
== Films Discussed ==
* Directed by Jamaa Fanaka
** Emma Mae (1974)
** Welcome Home, Brother Charles (1975)
** Penitentiary (1979)
** Penitentiary II (1982)
** Penitentiary III (1987)
** Street Wars (1992)
* Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971) Dir. Melvin Van Peebles
* Mean Streets (1973) Dir. Martin Scorsese
* Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) Dir. Martin Scorsese
* Killer of Sheep (1978) Dir. Charles Burnett
* Stir Crazy (1980) Dir. Sidney Poitier
* Death Wish II (1982) Dir. Michael Winner
* Top Gun (1986) Dir. Tony Scott
* Daughters of the Dust (1991) Dir. Julie Dash
* New Jack City (1991) Dir. Mario Van Peebles
* Menace II Society (1993) Dir. Allen and Albert Hughes
* Clerks (1994) Dir. Kevin Smith
== Discussion Notes ==
* Jamaa Fanaka: a black filmmaker with a substantial career that never caught a break
** Part of the L.A. Rebellion
*** Group of black filmmakers who made a few films that got no distribution
*** Their rise was due in part to affirmative action finally hitting film schools and black students getting admitted
*** Notable members include Julie Dash, Charles Burnett, and Jamaa Fanaka
*** They echoed the neo-realist ideas of Italy, telling stories from the streets
*** Fanaka wanted to bridge the gap from the concepts of the Rebellion to mainstream movies
** Fanaka, after a stint in the army and a stint in jail, entered film school
*** Quoted as being 'on the way to rob a bank' when he saw a notice for a film program at UCLA
** Eventually made it into the DGA, still got no jobs, and died in 2012
** Could have done so much more, if only given the opportunity
* A brief ICC history of black filmmaking
** Oscar Micheaux was the highlight the silent era
** Dried up until the Blacksplotation era (a label hated by Fanaka)
*** Notable directors included Melvin Van Pebbles and Ozzie Davis
** Died out again until a mainstream revival with Spike Lee in the 80's
* Welcome Home, Brother Charles (a.k.a. Soul Vengeance)
** Fanaka's feature length result of a short-film school project
** Has the fantastical premise of a magical member, but is more focused on the concept of reintegration of a convict into society
** Has a lived-in time capsule feel
* Emma Mae (a.k.a. Black Sister's Revenge)
** A character study of a young Southern woman coming to her family home in LA
** Sprawling story anchored by a powerful performance from Jeri Hayes
** Highly recommend by our hosts!
* The Penitentiary series
** Massive hit when it came out - biggest independent movie ever at it's time of release
** A muscular, sweaty, bloody movie series
** Fanaka was still a student when he made this (to keep access to UCLA's film equipment)
== Listener Letters ==
* Zenik
* Do our hosts recall any notable instances of copy-paste composing?
** Will: The Artist's usage of music from Vertigo
*** Also loves hearing big scores in Turkish ripoff movies
** Poverty Row's reuse of public domain tracks
** Furious (1984) contains a Russian orchestra needle-drop
** Bride of Frankenstein (1935) score gets used in a lot of Universal horror movies
** King King vs. Godzilla (1962) uses the Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) score
** The Shaw Brothers usage of Western scores
** The Killer uses tracks from Red Heat
** Thief's Tangerine Dream soundtrack used in Shaun Costello films
== Post-Outro Discussion ==
*The greatest part of staying home sick as a kid - unlimited TV and movies!
*Our hosts discuss their go-to movies for when they have the flu
**Godzilla films, Monty Python films, and hard-drive backlog diving
*Will shares a wisdom-teeth horror story
Category:Episodes
Category:Jamaa Fanaka