Jamaa Fanaka
Jamaa Fanaka | |
---|---|
Born | Walter Gordon September 6, 1942 Compton Junior College, UCLA |
Occupation(s) | Film director, producer, screenwriter |
Years active | 1972–2012 |
Parent(s) | Robert L. and Beatrice Gordon |
Jamaa Fanaka (born Walter Gordon; September 6, 1942 – April 1, 2012)
Early life and education
Fanaka was born Walter Gordon to Robert L. and Beatrice Gordon in
Later, he changed his name to Jamaa Fanaka. Ntongela Masilela states that while "a fundamental tenet of the Los Angeles school was an opposition to Hollywood," Fanaka was a notable exception. He describes Fanaka as "very much fascinated by Hollywood and averse to the contentious ideological and artistic discussions that were fundamental to the formation of the school."[5]
Career
During film school, Fanaka wrote, produced and directed Emma Mae (1974). The film focuses on a young woman who arrives in Los Angeles from Mississippi to live with her mother's sister and her family after her mother dies, and survives the culture shock that accompanies the move; Welcome Home Brother Charles (1975), about the ravages and dire consequences of racism; and Penitentiary (1979), the story of a young man wrongly sent to prison, who, through his boxing talents, is able to win his freedom.
Fanaka completed Street Wars in 1992. He was in extended production and
Filmography
- A Day in the Life of Willie Faust, or Death on the Installment Plan" (short, 1972)[4]
- Welcome Home Brother Charles (1975)
- Emma Mae (1976)
- Penitentiary (1979)
- Penitentiary II (1982)
- Penitentiary III (1987)
- Street Wars (1992)
References
- ^ "Jamaa Fanaka, Leading LA Rebellion Film Movement Filmmaker, Dies At 69". Shadow and Act on Cinema of the African Diaspora.
- ^ King, Susan (2011-10-03). "The 'L.A. Rebellion' returns". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. Retrieved 2011-10-05.
- )
- ^ a b Horak, Jan-Christopher (2011). "A Day in the Life of Willie Faust, or Death on the Installment Plan (1972)". Los Angeles, California: UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved 2011-11-14.
Jamaa Fanaka's first project plays off the Blaxploitation's genre conventions, an adaption of Goethe's "Faust" presented with a non-synchronous soundtrack and superimposed over a remake of Super Fly (1972). Often out of focus with an overactive camera, the film immediately exudes nervous energy, but unlike Priest's elegant cocaine consumption in Super Fly, Willie's arm gushes blood as he injects heroin. A morality tale in two reels.
- ^ Masilela, Ntongela (1993). "The Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers". In Diawara, Manthia (ed.). Black American Cinema. New York, London: Routledge. p. 115.
External links
- Jamaa Fanaka at IMDb