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A quiet revelation of American independent filmmaking, Charles Burnett’s lyrical debut feature unfolds as a mosaic of Black life in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, where Stan (Henry Gayle Sanders), a father worn down by his job in a slaughterhouse, and his wife (Kaycee Moore) seek moments of tenderness in the face of myriad disappointments. Equally attuned to the world of children and that of adults, Burnett—acting as director, writer, producer, cinematographer, and editor—finds poetry amid everyday struggles in indelible images that glow with compassionate beauty. Largely unseen for decades following its completion in 1977, Killer of Sheep is now recognized as a touchstone of the groundbreaking LA Rebellion movement, and a masterpiece that brought Black American lives to the screen with an aching intimacy like no film before.
DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Charles Burnett, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
Audio commentary featuring Burnett and film scholar Richard Peña
New interviews with Burnett and actor Henry Gayle Sanders
New appreciation by filmmaker Barry Jenkins
Two short films by Burnett: Several Friends (1969) and The Horse (1973), with a new introduction to the latter by Burnett
Excerpt from the 2010 UCLA LA Rebellion Oral History Project, featuring an interview with Burnett by film scholar Jacqueline Stewart
A Walk with Charles Burnett (2019), a documentary by Robert Townsend
Cast reunion from 2007
Trailer
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: An essay by critic Danielle Amir Jackson
Package design by Slang Inc. with Eric Skillman
Killer of Sheep was restored and remastered by UCLA Film & Television Archive, Milestone Films, and the Criterion Collection.
Henry G. Sanders