Killer of Sheep

Streaming video - 1978

A longstanding director of ingenuity, heart and meticulous detail, Charles Burnett has earned his reputation as "one of America's very best filmmakers" from The Chicago Tribune. Focusing on everyday life in Black communities rarely featured in American cinema, Burnett's films combine lyrical storytelling with a starkly neorealist, documentary-style approach most famously seen in KILLER OF SHEEP, the chronicle of a slaughterhouse employee's daily struggles and the emotional baggage he carries home. Burnett once said of the film, “[Stan’s] real problems lie within the family, trying to make that work and be a human being. You don’t necessarily win battles; you survive.”