Charles Burnett has been living with “Killer of Sheep” for more than half a century.
Burnett, 82, shot “Killer of Sheep” on black-and-white 16mm in the early 1970s for less than $10,000. Originally Burnett’s thesis film at UCLA, it was completed in 1978. In the coming years, “Killer of Sheep” would be hailed as a masterpiece of Black independent cinema and one of the finest film debuts, ever. Though it didn’t receive a widespread theatrical release until 2007, the blues of “Killer of Sheep” have sounded across generations of American movies.
