FLATLAND FILM SERIES & LHUCA
presented
Art House Cinema Screening #1
Killer of Sheep
Feb. 12, 2009, 7pm, Firehouse Theatre
Admission - Adults $10, Students $7, LHUCA members free
"An American masterpiece, independent to the bone...
This may be Mr. Burnett's most radical truth-telling."
MANOHLA DARGIS, NEW YORK TIMES
"A masterpiece. One of the most insightful and authentic dramas about African-American life on film. One of the finest American films, period."
DAVE KEHR, INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
"One of the masterpieces of American cinema!"
HOWIE MOVSHOVITZ, NPR ALL THINGS CONSIDERED (Listen to the radio interview with Charles Burnett, Lisa Kennedy and Dennis Doros)
"Way ahead of its time 30 years ago, and just as stunning today, Killer of Sheep is one of those marvels of original moviemaking that keeps hope of artistic independence alive... Here's to the miracle of a buried classic granted the opposite of a killing—here's to life."
LISA SCHWARTZBAUM, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
Killer of Sheep
Director: Charles Burnett
USA. 1977. 80 minutes. Black & White.
Milestone, Steven Soderbergh and Turner Classic Movies present
one of the most famous and acclaimed films by an African-American filmmaker, KILLER OF SHEEP was one of the first 50 films to be selected for the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry and was chosen by the National Society of Film Critics as one of the 100 Essential Films. But, due to music licensing problems, the film has rarely been screened, and then only in ragged 16mm prints. On its thirtieth anniversary, Milestone Films has cleared all the rights and will present UCLA Film & Television Archives dazzling 35mm restoration of this landmark film.
Killer of Sheep examines the black Los Angeles ghetto of Watts in the mid-1970s through the eyes of Stan, a sensitive dreamer who is growing detached and numb from the psychic toll of working at a slaughterhouse.
Frustrated by money problems, he finds respite in moments of simple beauty: the warmth of a coffee cup against his cheek, slow dancing with his wife in the living room, holding his daughter. The film offers no solutions; it merely presents life — sometimes hauntingly bleak, sometimes filled with transcendent joy and gentle humor.
Charles Burnett’s films focus on everyday life in black communities in a manner unseen in American cinema, combining incredibly lyrical elements with a starkly neo-realist, documentary-style approach that chronicles the unfolding story with depth and riveting simplicity.
Guest Lecturer - Michael Borshuk
See some images from the Killer of Sheep screening
Download Printable Flyer - - - Flatland Film Series
A special thanks to the African American Chamber of Commerce
This project was funded by a grant from the Sybil B. Harrington Endowment for the Arts of the Lubbock Area Foundationwww.artonart.com