Emma Mae

Admission is free. No advance reservations. Your seat will be assigned to you when you pick up your ticket at the box office. Seats are assigned on a first come, first served basis. The box office opens one hour before the event.

Emma Mae

U.S., 1976

Also known as Black Sister’s Revenge, Jamaa Fanaka’s Emma Mae 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.—Adapted from notes by Jacqueline Stewart.

35mm, color, 100 min. Director/Screenwriter: Jamaa Fanaka. With: Jerri Hayes, Ernest Williams III, Charles David Brooks III, Gammy Burdett, Teri Taylor.