director Jamaa Fanaka
Robert Deniro and Jamaa Fanaka clubbing in 1980
Probably best known for the 1979 prison noir film, Peniteniery, director Jamaa Fanaka made 2 incredible films (Emma Mae (1975) and Welcome Home,Brother Charles (1976)) while he was still a film student at UCLA. Thankful for the Blaxploitation film boom but looking to break out of the structural and narrative confines of the genre, Fanaka’s films spoke to the universality of the human experience and the nature of myth. After interviewing him, I felt I had just scratched the surface with this underappreciated auteur. You can find the interview here: http://waxpoetics.com/issues/issue_32/
May 3, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Quality reading indeed my brother! I know it was definitely an honor to conduct that interview.
Skeme
May 4, 2009 at 11:37 pm
Yeah, man. I’ve got some more dope ones coming up. Stay tuned!
M
May 21, 2009 at 3:07 am
Itr was a great pleasure doing that interview with the singularly excellentWaxpoetics magazine. Jamaa Fanaka
May 23, 2009 at 9:40 pm
And it was a pleasure conducting an interview with the tremendously gifted Mr. Jamaa Fanaka!
M
June 13, 2009 at 7:12 pm
I am highly complimented by being referred to as the “tremendously gifted Mr. Jamaa Fanaka” and more-so gratified by the recognition of the highly respected “Cured Sweet Potatoes” web site. Robert De Niro was and remains one of my alltime best friends. He is not only a great talent, but my:
Friend-for-life,
Jamaa Fanaka
October 10, 2009 at 5:49 pm
[...] all the songs, will be sharing an amazing interview he did with pioneering ’70s filmmaker, Jamaa Fanaka. This has been a long time in the making. Be [...]