Emma Mae
Presented by the UCLA Film & Television Archive.
Part of the UCLA Film & Television Archive screening series Archive Treasures. Learn more at cinema.ucla.edu.
Also known as Black Sister’s Revenge, Jamaa Fanaka’s Emma Mae (1976) offers a rare, sympathetic portrait of a young Black woman adjusting to city life. Arriving in Los Angeles from Mississippi, Emma Mae (Jerri Hayes) is shy but fiercely protective and capable of taking down anyone who disrespects her. Unlike the glamorous heroines of Blaxploitation, she is plain yet powerful. Fanaka subverts expectations, prioritizing sisterhood over romance in this gritty, character-driven take on the genre.
35mm, color, 100 min. Director/Screenwriter: Jamaa Fanaka. With: Jerri Hayes, Ernest Williams III, Charles David Brooks III, Gammy Burdett, Teri Taylor.
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