Jamaa Fanaka (born Walter Gordon; September 6, 1942 – April 1, 2012)[1][2] was an American filmmaker.
Jan-Christopher Horak of the UCLA Film Archives, when comparing the movie with the 1972 blaxploitation film, Super Fly, released the same year, observed, "unlike Priest's elegant cocaine consumption in Super Fly, Willie's arm gushes blood as he injects heroin.
Ntongela Masilela states that while "a fundamental tenet of the Los Angeles school was an opposition to Hollywood," Fanaka was a notable exception.
He describes Fanaka as "very much fascinated by Hollywood and averse to the contentious ideological and artistic discussions that were fundamental to the formation of the school.
The film focuses on a young woman who arrives in Los Angeles from Mississippi to live with her mother's sister and her family after her mother dies, and survives the culture shock that accompanies the move; Welcome Home Brother Charles (1975), about the ravages and dire consequences of racism; and Penitentiary (1979), the story of a young man wrongly sent to prison, who, through his boxing talents, is able to win his freedom.