Charles Burnett’s pioneering account of blue-collar existence paved the way for African American representation on the big screen.
Burnett’s directorial debut centres on Stan, a south-central Los Angeles slaughterhouse worker who is looking to provide for his family. However, Stan’s occupation is a grisly business and the stench of decay that surrounds him is reflected in the brutal disparities that inform contemporary African American life. As Stan becomes increasingly alienated from his family and wider society, he begins to question his existence.
Filmed on location in the Watts neighbourhood of the city, Burnett’s quasi-documentary approach draws from the Italian Neo-Realist masters, blurring the lines between fact and fiction and yet always underpinned by inescapable racial division. Burnett’s 1977 opus is the product of a genuine auteur: he wrote, directed, produced, shot, and edited Killer of Sheep as his UCLA thesis film.
The U.S. Library of Congress selected the film as one of the first fifty films on the National Film Registry in 1990, and the National Society of Film Critics selected it as one of the "100 Essential Films" of all time in 2002. This 4K restoration from Kino Lorber restores the original soundtrack in its entirety, including the original closing song, Dinah Washington's era-defining performance of "Unforgettable”.
Killer of Sheep has been digitally restored to 4K and remastered by UCLA Film & Television Archive, Milestone Films, and the Criterion Collection. Picture Restoration: Illuminate Hollywood. Photochemical Film Preservation: Film Technology Company. Sound Mix and Restoration: John Polito of Audio Mechanics and Larry Blake. Audio Transfers: DJ Audio, Endpoint Audio Labs. Music Rights: Chris Robertson, Global ImageWorks and Milestone Films. Restoration supervised by Ross Lipman and Jillian Borders in consultation with Charles Burnett.
With thanks to Milestone Films and Kino Lorber.
With an introduction by writer/curator Karen Alexander.
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