Filmography
Featuring well-known L.A. Rebellion works alongside rarely seen student films, this body of work represents not only the originality of the individuals whose names are on them, but a collective vision as well. Across the two decades during which they made their presence felt at UCLA, and in the decades since, individual L.A. Rebellion artists have focused on diverse topics and responded to evolving political and artistic thought through their work. Explorations of class, considerations of historical legacies, stories attentive to concerns of local communities and appreciations of other Black arts are only some of the areas of exploration. The films also display a diversity of forms, from irreverent reconfigurations of well-worn genre types, to groundbreaking experiments with cinematic language. Certain works, long out of circulation, represent rediscoveries and will certainly lead to much future scholarship.
Learn more about the UCLA Film & Television Archive’s ongoing “L.A. Rebellion” inititiative.
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
 |
The Dawn at My Back: Memoir of a Black Texas Upbringing This evocative DVD-ROM from the Labyrinth Project, based on a memoir by Carroll Parrott Blue, leads viewers on a rich visual and textual exploration of Blue’s family history, and of the history of Houston’s black community. |
2003 |
 |
A Day in the Life of Willie Faust, or Death on the Installment Plan Jamaa Fanaka’s first project is an adaption of Goethe’s Faust, superimposed over a remake of Super Fly. A morality tale in two reels. |
1972 |
 |
Daydream Therapy Bernard Nicolas' Daydream Therapy, set to Nina Simone’s haunting rendition of “Pirate Jenny” poetically envisions a hotel worker’s escape from workplace indignities through vivid fantasy. |
1977 |
 |
DEFINE O.Funmilayo Makarah's oblique meditation on the semiotics of ethnic female identity accompanies a cynical narration about how to “win an invitation to the dominant culture.” |
1988 |
 |
The Diary of an African Nun A nun in Uganda weighs the emptiness she finds in her supposed union with Christ. Julie Dash adapted Alice Walker's short story. |
1977 |
 |
A Different Image An African American woman contemplates self-identity, heritage and perception on the streets of the sprawling Los Angeles metropolis in a film by Alile Sharon Larkin. |
1982 |
 |
Dreadlocks and the Three Bears Forget what you know about Goldilocks. For L.A. Rebellion filmmaker Alile Sharon Larkin, it's all about "Dreadlocks." |
1991 |
 |
Emma Mae In Jamaa Fanaka's second feature, Emma Mae arrives in Los Angeles from Mississippi replete with rough edges and an exceptional ability to kick ass. Emma Mae’s plain looks and shy demeanor set her apart from supermama heroines of this “Blaxploitation” era (e.g., Foxy Brown, Cleopatra Jones). But when folks underestimate her, Emma Mae surprises everyone, including her no-good boyfriend Jesse, with her extraordinary physical and emotional strength. |
1976 |
 |
Festival of Mask In this documentary by Don Amis about the Craft & Folk Art Museum’s annual festival, L.A.’s diverse racial and ethnic communities (African, Asian, Latin American), express themselves through a shared traditional form. |
1982 |
 |
Il Finale A unique stylistic blend of dramatic social realism and Latin American soap opera, the film is a story of high hopes and unattained desire. Raúl and José are Cuban emigrés struggling to succeed in Los Angeles. Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and a melodramatic sensibility make up José’s world. Raúl, his lover, overflows with optimism, but his enthusiasm soon fades as his race and sexuality make him the victim of economic and sexual exploitation. As José loses himself in Puccini’s tragedy, Raúl metaphorically lives out Madame Butterfly’s fate. Directed by Russell Martin. |
1989 |
