February’s installment of Sidewalk Film 101 showcases one of the landmark works of American independent cinema, Charles Burnett’s Killer of Sheep.
Filmed in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles in 1972 and 1973, the film was made for Burnett’s Master of Fine Arts thesis at UCLA on a budget of about $10,000, drawing inspiration from the documentary-style grittiness of the Italian neorealists (we’ll be screening one of the most famous of these films, Roberto Rossellini’s Rome Open City, for August’s Sidewalk Film 101). Burnett was never able to secure a wide release for the film due to issues surrounding the music rights for the tracks used in the film, but after playing at several festivals in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, the film grew in reputation and critical acclaim. It finally received an American theatrical release in 2007, almost 30 years after its initial screenings, and has subsequently been renowned as one of the finest American indies ever made — and a major work in a movement that came to be known as the L.A. Rebellion, which encompasses the works of a generation of Black filmmakers who learned the craft at UCLA from the late ‘60s to the early ‘90s. This movement includes other major figures in Black independent film like Julier Dash, Haile Gerima, Zeinabu irene Davis, and Billy Woodberry — many of whom received minimal attention at the time of their films’ releases, but whose work has heralded by the next generation of indie filmmakers and now sit atop lists of some of the most important American films of all time.
Before you join us for Killer of Sheep on Thursday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m., or Sunday, Feb. 22, at 1 p.m. for our Sidewalk Film 101 screenings, check out these links to some supplementary reading on the film and the L.A. Rebellion.
- An interview with Charles Burnett on the making of Killer of Sheep: https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/interviews/slaughterhouse-blues-charles-burnett-killer-sheep
- The Criterion Collection essay for the 4K restoration of the film: https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/8817-killer-of-sheep-everyday-blues
- A primer on the L.A. Rebellion and some of its most famous works from MUBI: https://mubi.com/en/notebook/posts/notebook-primer-l-a-rebellion-9583
Join us at either of our Sidewalk Film 101 screenings for a special intro by the Sidewalk Cinema programming director, Corey Craft, before the film. We hope to see you there!
Get tickets to our Sidewalk Film 101 screenings of Killer of Sheep here.