A masterpiece of African-American filmmaking and one of the most perceptive dramas on family and community, Killer of Sheep tells the story of a disillusioned slaughterhouse worker facing money woes and struggling with the emotional toll of his bloody occupation. Finding solace in tender, transcendent, funny moments and capturing the everyday realities of its post-manufacturing Watts, Los Angeles setting in poetic, documentary style with a soundtrack to rival Mean Streets or Goodfellas (Dinah Washington, Paul Robeson and Little Walter all feature), Charles Burnett’s debut was shot for less than $10,000, finished in 1977 and won a prize at the 1981 Berlin International Film Festival. Re-released in 2007, its quiet emotional power found fans in directors including Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) and Steven Soderbergh.
Part of the Meat season. Also showing: Delicatessen, On Body and Soul, Raw
- DIR. CHARLES BURNETT
- CAST. HENRY G. SANDERS, KAYCEE MOORE, CHARLES BRACY, ANGELA BURNETT
- YEAR. 1978
- COUNTRY. USA
- RUN-TIME. 81 MINS
- RATING. 15
£6.00 (£4.50 conc.)
Doors 7:00PM
Film 7:30PM
“One of the greatest unseen American movies
”
“As fresh and observational as it was 30 years ago, Killer of Sheep seems even more universal now. Killer of Sheep is an urban pastoral... sweet, sardonic, deeply sad and very funny”
“An American masterpiece, independent to the bone... This may be Mr. Burnett’s most radical truth-telling.”