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Mar 2, 2024 · Catch the world premiere of the new restoration of this romantic comedy presented in person by Charles Burnett, the acclaimed director of Killer of Sheep and To Sleep with Anger. Winner of an Honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement, Charles Burnett remains one of our country’s most celebrated independent filmmakers.
Aug 9, 2024 · Using his limited resources as an advantage, Killer of Sheep echoed the great neorealist films of decades past by touching on many of the same themes and motifs that helped define the movement, all viewed through a lens that Burnett didn’t just identify and resonate with, but had lived through.
Feb 25, 2024 · “The Annihilation of Fish” will be shown at 7 p.m. March 2 at the Wexner Center for the Arts, 1871 N. High St. Director Charles Burnett will appear in person.
- Peter Tonguette
Oct 23, 2017 · On the occasion of African American filmmaker Charles Burnett making his first visit to the Wex this Friday as part of a two-day program of his work, we asked emerging Columbus filmmaker Cameron Granger to share his impressions of Burnett's 1977 masterpiece, Killer of Sheep, below.
- Became Interested in Storytelling Early on
- Studied Film in College
- Won Acclaim For Killer of Sheep
- At A Glance …
- Became An Icon of Independent Filmmaking
- Found Outlet For Work in Television
- Selected Works
- Sources
Charles Burnett was born in 1944 in Vicksburg, Mississippi; his father was in the military and his mother was a nurse's aide. When Burnett was three, the family moved to Los Angeles, settling in the predominantly black neighborhood of Watts. A short time afterward, Burnett's parents separated, and he and his brother were raised by their grandmother...
As a young man, Burnett did not find much support for his artistic ambitions. "I was always interested in [the] arts," Burnett told the Washington Post. "But my community wasn't interested in [the] arts. You had to do something concrete, you had to make a living." Burnett initially tried to live up to these expectations by enrolling at Los Angeles ...
For his master's thesis, Burnett wrote and directed Killer of Sheep, which would later earn him international acclaim. Set in Watts, Killer of Sheepis a stark family drama about an unemployed slaughterhouse worker who tries to remain a good husband and father. The project took five years to complete—mostly because Burnett had promised a role to a f...
Born Charles Burnett on April 13, 1944, in Vicksburg, MS; father in the military and mother a nurse's aide, raised by grandmother; married Gaye Shannon-Burnett; children: Steven and Jonathan. Education: University of California, Los Angeles, BA and MFA in film. Career:Filmmaker, writer, director, and cinematographer on short films, independent feat...
Burnett's next film, My Brother's Wedding—his first feature to be shot on 35mm film stock—was a comedy-drama, which told the story of a young black man torn between self-destructive street life and pretentious upward mobility. Like Killer of Sheep, My Brother's Wedding was done on a shoestring budget and featured nonprofessional actors, including B...
Burnett's next project was to direct a made-for-television documentary, America Becoming. Financed by the Ford Foundation, the program focused on ethnic diversity in the United States, and particularly the relationship between recent immigrants and other racial groups. While working on the documentary, Burnett was shocked by the lack of self-esteem...
Killer of Sheep, 1977. My Brother's Wedding, 1983. To Sleep with Anger, 1990. America Becoming(television documentary), 1991. The Glass Shield, 1994. Nightjohn(made for television), 1996. The Wedding(made for television), 1998. The Annihilation of Fish, 1999. Selma, Lord, Selma(made for television), 1999. Finding Buck McHenry(made for television), ...
Periodicals
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 29, 1990, p. N1; June 23, 1996, p. L5. Black American Literature Forum, summer 1991, p. 323. Bright Lights Film Journal, vol. 60, May 2008. Chicago Tribune, January 11, 1991. New York Times, January 1, 1995, sec. 2, p. 9; January 30, 1997, p. C13; January 31, 1997, p. C8; March 25, 2007; September 14, 2007. Washington Post, October 28, 1990 p. G1; June 4, 1995, p. G7.
Online
"Charles Burnett Profile," Turner Classic Movies, http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article/?cid=184971(accessed May 30, 2008). Kim, Nelson, "Charles Burnett Interview," Senses of Cinema, http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/03/burnett.html (accessed May 30, 2008). Mitchell, Elvis, "Charles Burnett," The Treatment Podcast, http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/tt/tt080409charles_burnett(accessed May 30, 2008). —Carrie Golus and Derek Jacques
The pioneering African-American director Charles Burnett was a film student at UCLA when he made Killer of Sheep (1977), a powerful independent film that combines blues-inspired lyricism and neo-realism in its drama of an inner-city slaughterhouse worker and his family.
Charles Burnett is a groundbreaking African American filmmaker and one of this country’s greatest directors, yet he remains largely unknown. His films, most notably Killer of Sheep (1977) and To Sleep with Anger (1990), are considered classics, yet few filmgoers have seen them or heard of Burnett.
