Burnett’s films focus on everyday life in black communities in a manner rarely in American cinema — combining lyrical elements with a starkly neorealist, documentary-style approach that chronicles the unfolding story with depth and riveting simplicity. In KILLER OF SHEEP, Stan, employed at a slaughterhouse, is suffering from the emotional side effects of his bloody occupation to such a degree that his entire life unhinges. 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.”

PRAISE FOR KILLER OF SHEEP

“An american masterpiece, independent to the bone.”
– Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

“Burnett regards faces, lives, children, friends, neighbors, in a loosely strung-together series of episodes that don’t add up to much, while they somehow add up to everything. His black-and-white images and deliberate editing create a sense of serene resignation; this is how it is, and ever shall be.”
– Roger Ebert

“One of the most striking debuts in movie history.”
– Terrence Rafferty

TRAILER