#Charles Burnett

[roseillith]

MY BROTHER’S WEDDING (1983) dir. CHARLES BURNETT  

[umamidaddy]

Killer of Sheep (Charles Burnett, 1978) X “Auditorium” (Mos Def & Madlib, 2009)

A landmark in black cinema that was rarely seen mixed with an all-time great hip hop track that is now stuck in streaming purgatory over label disputes. This film was a labor of love by Charles Burnett who wrote, directed, shot, and edited this film, which unfolds like a Los Angeles version of Italian neo-realism with vignettes that show multiple generations of regular everyday life with the affects of poverty and “urban renewal.” The Madlib-produced Mos Def track from The Ecstatic, is a natural pairing as the album’s cover is taken from the roof-jumping kids in the film.

[annoyingthemesong]

SUBLIME CINEMA #659 - KILLER OF SHEEP

Charles Burnett's college thesis film, which is now preserved by the Library of Congress. Loose LA narratives taking place at the end of the 70's, beautiful black and white transfers have become available after many years of this film languishing in obscurity.

[davidhudson]

Happy 80th, Charles Burnett.

[beginnersmind]

to sleep with anger, 1990

[365filmsbyauroranocte]

The Horse (Charles Burnett, 1973)

[tygerland]

Killer of Sheep (1978)

[celestialmega]

Killer of Sheep by Charles Burnett.

[pygartheangel]

[randomrichards]

TO SLEEP WITH ANGER:

Old friend in town

Fuels deep seeded resentments

Families tested

[perfectlyyoungtimetravel]

Film Fridays

Today I drew Charles Burnett, whose work has been praised for its portrayal of the African American experience. He was born on April 13th on 1944 in Vicksburg, Mississippi. In 1947. His family moved to Watts, South LA. He was interested in expressing himself through art when he was younger but because of economic pressure, he chose to study electronics at Los Angeles City College instead, but then he took writing classes and even earned BA in writing and languages at the University of California, LA. Watts really really influenced his movies because of violent riots on 1965. And protest against police brutality committed on Rodney King on 1992. In fact his first feature film was set there. And he said in an interview for Cahiers du Cinéma 'I always felt like an outside, an observer who wasn't able to participate because I couldn't speak very well. So this inability to communicate must have led me...to find some other means to express myself...I really liked a lot of the kids I grew up with. I felt an obligation to write something about them, to explain what went wrong with them. I think that's the reason I started to make these movies.'. He continued his education at the UCLA film school, earning a Master of Fine Arts degree in theater arts and film, which really had an influence on him as well because of his friends, classmates and mentors. On 1967. And 1968. The turbulent social events that was vital in establishing the UCLA filmmaking movement and that Charles Burnett was involved in was the 'Black Independent Movement' their films were very relevant to the politics and culture of the 1960s. Their characters were shifting from the middle class to working class to highlight the tension caused by class conflict within the African American families. The independent writers and directors stayed away from the mainstream and they have won critical approval for remaining faithful to African American history. They also created the Third World Film Club to break the American boycott banning all forms of cultural exchange with Cuba. 'Black Independent Movement' also considered to respond to Hollywood and Blaxploitation films that were popular around the time. His first films with friends were 'Several Friends (1969)' and 'The Horse (1973)'. His famous movies were 'Killer of Sheep (1978)', 'My Brother's Wedding (1983)', 'To sleep with Anger (1990)', ' The Glass Shield' and 'Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation (2007)'. Including some documentaries such as 'Nat Turner: A Troublesome property (2003 Which won a Cinematography Award from the Long Beach International Film Festival)', 'America Becoming (1991)', 'Dr. Endesha Ida Mae Holland (1998)', ' For Reel? (2003)' and 'Warming by the Devil's Fire (2003)'. He earned:

MacArthur Fellowship

The Freedom in Film Award from The First Amendment Center and the Nashville Independent Film Festival

Honors from The Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Human Rights Watch International Film Film Festival

The prestigious Howard's University's Paul Robenson Award

Governors Award

[roseillith]

MY BROTHER’S WEDDING (1983) dir. CHARLES BURNETT    

[pierppasolini]

My Brother’s Wedding (1983) // dir. Charles Burnett

[allweknewisdead]

Killer of Sheep (1978) - Charles Burnett

What he captures above all in "Killer of Sheep" is the deadening ennui of hot, empty summer days, the dusty passage of time when windows and screen doors stood open, and the way the breathless day crawls past.

Roger Ebert on Killer of Sheep

[davidhudson]

Happy 79th, Charles Burnett.

[fnipoli]

My brother’s wedding (Charles Burnett, 1983)