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”.

Screening with thanks to Cinema Rediscovered on Tour.

Director Charles Burnett
Year 1977
Duration 1h 17m
Language English
Cast Henry Gayle Sanders, Kaycee Moore, Charles Bracy, Angela Burnett