{"id":240012,"date":"2026-09-16T21:27:57","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T21:27:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xenonpictures.com\/wp\/?page_id=240012"},"modified":"2026-09-16T21:43:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T21:43:19","slug":"jamaa-fanaka-1942-2012","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/xenonpictures.com\/wp\/jamaa-fanaka-1942-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"Jamaa Fanaka 1942 \u2014 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; fullwidth=&#8221;on&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.7&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_fullwidth_code _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.7&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;]<\/p>\n<style><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->html, body {<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->    margin: 0 !important;<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->    padding: 0 !important;<!-- 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[et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        <\/p>\n<h1>JAMAA FANAKA<\/h1>\n<p><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        <\/p>\n<div class=\"fanaka-dates\">1942 \u2014 2012<\/div>\n<p><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        <pee><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        As part of our pioneering effort to establish America\u2019s first<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        home-entertainment label dedicated to filmed entertainment by Black filmmakers and for Black<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        audiences, Xenon Pictures began a long association with independent<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        filmmaker Jamaa Fanaka in the late 1980s. In a split-rights arrangement<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        with MGM, Xenon distributed several of Fanaka\u2019s landmark films:<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        <\/pee><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        <\/p>\n<div class=\"fanaka-films\"><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->            <\/p>\n<div class=\"fanaka-film\"><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->                <em>Penitentiary<\/em> (1979)<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->            <\/div>\n<p><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->            <\/p>\n<div class=\"fanaka-film\"><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->                <em>Penitentiary II<\/em> (1982)<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->            <\/div>\n<p><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->            <\/p>\n<div class=\"fanaka-film\"><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->                <em>Welcome Home, Brother Charles<\/em> (1975)<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->                <span class=\"fanaka-aka\">AKA <em>Soul Vengeance<\/em><\/span><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->            <\/div>\n<p><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->            <\/p>\n<div class=\"fanaka-film\"><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->                <em>Emma Mae<\/em> (1976)<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->                <span class=\"fanaka-aka\">AKA <em>Black Sister\u2019s Revenge<\/em><\/span><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->            <\/div>\n<p><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        <\/div>\n<p><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        <pee><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        A writer, producer and director who emerged from UCLA\u2019s influential<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        L.A. Rebellion generation of Black filmmakers, Jamaa Fanaka (n\u00e9 Walter Gordon) was a fiercely<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        independent voice whose films combined popular genre filmmaking with<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        stories, characters and perspectives rarely represented on American<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        screens.<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        <\/pee><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        <pee><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        Xenon is proud of our long association with Fanaka, beginning<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        in the late 1980s and continuing until his death in 2012. Over nearly<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        a quarter-century, Xenon worked with Fanaka to keep his groundbreaking<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        films in circulation and introduce them to new generations of viewers,<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        and we remain proud to have played a part in preserving and championing<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        his remarkable independent legacy.<!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->        <\/pee><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] -->    <\/div>\n<p><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><\/div>\n<p>[\/et_pb_fullwidth_code][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-template-blank.php","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-240012","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xenonpictures.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/240012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xenonpictures.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xenonpictures.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xenonpictures.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xenonpictures.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240012"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/xenonpictures.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/240012\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":240023,"href":"https:\/\/xenonpictures.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/240012\/revisions\/240023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xenonpictures.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}