Release date March 27th
Before directing the PENITENTIARY trilogy, Jamaa Fanaka helmed these two offbeat genre films, which helped catapult him to recognition as one of the most important black filmmakers working in 70s independent cinema.
In Fanaka’s debut feature,
WELCOME HOME BROTHER CHARLES, a young black man is sent to prison, after being brutalized by a corrupt racist cop. Upon release, he takes deadly revenge against the cops, lawyers, and thugs who got him busted, using a most unusual weapon… As much a parody of exploitation films as it is a proud piece of genre cinema, BROTHER CHARLES combines horror and blaxploitation tropes with stirring social subtext resulting in a drive-in movie unlike any other.
Fanaka’s second feature,
EMMA MAE, tells the story of a naive young woman who moves from the Deep South to Watts. Initially finding herself at odds with her surroundings, Emma eventually gains acceptance from a local drug addict and dealer. But when he’s arrested and jailed, she plans a daring bank robbery to bail him out… Featuring a cast of mostly non-professionals and shot entirely on location in Watts, this uniquely subversive action film is an insider’s view of black, working-class LA neighborhoods.
Vinegar Syndrome brings these two landmark films to Blu-ray, newly restored from their original camera negatives.
Extras include:
• Newly scanned and restored in 2k from 35mm original camera negatives
• “The History of the L.A. Rebellion & Jamaa Fanaka” – an appreciation by Jan-Christopher Horak, Director of the UCLA Film & Television Archive
• Post film Q&A with actress Jerri Hayes from a 2017 screening of EMMA MAE at BAMcinématek in Brooklyn, NY
• Trailers, reversible sleeve
Pre-order available from
Amazon US - $32.98