Killer of Sheep

Charles Burnett's cinematic masterpiece Killer of Sheep is among the crown jewels of the Black indie filmmaking movement known as the L.A. Rebellion, evoking the everyday trials, fragile pleasures, and tenacious humor of blue-collar African Americans living in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles in the 1970s. The story centers on Stan (Henry Gayle Sanders), a slaughterhouse worker battling exhaustion and disconnected from his wife, his children, and himself. Filmed on a minuscule budget with a mostly nonprofessional cast, and combining keen on-the-street observation with a carefully crafted script and with a soundtrack sweeping the history of Black American music, this landmark film screens in a digitally restored, remastered 4K edition by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, Milestone Films, and the Criterion Collection.