7:00 p.m.	Emma Mae Jamaa Fanaka (U.S., 1976)

(a.k.a. Black Sister’s Revenge). Emma Mae is a sympathetic portrait of a young black woman from the South and her difficult adjustment to life in the big city. After the death of her mother, Emma Mae (Jerri Hayes) travels by bus from Mississippi to Los Angeles, her rough country edges on full display. She possesses an extraordinary ability to beat down anyone who disrespects her or those she loves. While Emma Mae’s proficiency in kicking ass echoes that of the super-mama heroines that populated other character-named films of this Blaxploitation era, she is not presented as an impossibly glamorous vixen. To the contrary, her plain looks and shy demeanor seem to necessitate her physical and emotional strength, particularly when dealing with those who mistakenly underestimate her. It is as if Emma Mae can tap directly into a wellspring of black women’s latent powers in order to protect and serve her own.

—Jacqueline Stewart

• Written by Fanaka. Photographed by Stephen Posey. With Jerri Hayes, Ernest Williams II, Charles D. Brooks III, Leopoldo Mandeville. (100 mins, Color, 35mm)

Preceded by:
A Day in the Life of Willie Faust, or Death on the Installment Plan
(Jamaa Fanaka (as Walt Gordon), U.S. 1972)

An adaption of Goethe’s Faust presented with a nonsynchronous soundtrack and superimposed over a remake of Super Fly (1972), Jamaa Fanaka’s first project plays off Blaxploitation’s genre conventions. Often out of focus and 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. Jan-Christopher Horak (20 mins, Color, DigiBeta transfer from 16mm blow-up from 8mm)

Total running time: 120 mins