Mysterious Island of Beautiful Women (1979)

Starring:

• Steven Keats 
• Jaime Lyn Bauer 
• Jayne Kennedy

Storyline
Some men in a plane land on an uncharted island. They discover that it's inhabited by women. Women who don't trust men. They try to get them to help them. Jayne Kennedy does not have a huge role in the film, but her role is worthy enough for recognition. 

Dummy (1979)

Starring:

• LeVar Burton
• Paul Sorvino
• Brian Dennehy

Storyline
Someone killed a hooker, and the cops are sure they've got the perp: a ghetto kid named Donald Lang (LeVar Burton). But Donald cannot speak. Or hear. Or read or write or understand sign language. Not even Donald's deaf lawyer can communicate with him. Can the state try a man incapable of defending himself? Le Var Burton and Paul Sorvino play accused and attorney in this gripping true story of a case that challenged our legal system and challenges our concept of justice. Winner of a 1979 Peabody Award(r) and nominated for an Emmy(r) as 1979's Outstanding Drama or Comedy Special, Dummy speaks volumes about the value of a human life, whether it belongs to a prostitute or the man who may be unjustly accused of her murder.

Purchase Film

Bush Mama (1979)

Starring:

• Barbarao 
• Johnny Weathers
• Susan Williams

 

Storyline
Inspired after having seen a Black woman in Chicago evicted in winter, director Haile Gerima (Sankofa) developed Bush Mama as his UCLA thesis film.  Gerima blends narrative fiction, documentary, surrealism and political modernism in his unflinching story about a pregnant welfare recipient in Watts.  Featuring the magnetic Barbara O. Jones (Freedom Road) as Dorothy, Bush Mama is an unrelenting and powerfully moving look at the realities of inner city poverty and systemic disenfranchisement of African Americans.  The film explores the different forces that act on Dorothy in her daily dealings with the welfare office and social workers as she is subjected to the oppressive cacophony of state-sponsored terrorism against the poor.  Motivated by the incarceration of her partner T.C. (Johnny Weathers) and the protection of her daughter and unborn child, Dorothy undergoes an ideological transformation from apathy and passivity to empowered action.  Ultimately uplifting, the film chronicles Dorothy’s awakening political consciousness and her assumption of her own self-worth.  With Bush Mama, Gerima presents an unflinching critique of the surveillance state and unchecked police power.  The film opens with actual footage of the LAPD harassing Gerima and his crew during the shooting.  -UCLA: Film & Television Archive