Special thanks to our June 23rd guest panelists, who conducted a lively and interesting post-screening discussion:
- Dr. Angela Gilliam - anthropologist, author, and professor at Evergreen State College
- Eddie Hill - filmmaker and producer
- Sandra D. Jackson-Dumont - Deputy Director of Education and Public Programs, Seattle Art Museum
30th ANNIVERSARY SCREENING / NEW 35MM PRINT
NWFF and Langston Hughes African American Film Festival present
KILLER OF SHEEP
(Charles Burnett, USA, 1977, 35mm, 96min)
At last, one of the most important independent and African-American films of the 20th Century has found a distributor. This underground gem, by director Charles Burnett, was placed among the first fifty films entered in the National Film Registry and declared a national treasure. In 2002, the National Society of Film Critics selected the film as one of the "100 Essential Films" of all time. Due to music licensing complications, the film was rarely screened and even then on worn 16mm prints. KILLER OF SHEEP has now been fully restored for its 30th anniversary. Witness its frank, neo-realistic depiction of black life in Los Angeles' Watts neighborhood in the mid-70s as the film follows Stan from his job at a slaughterhouse to his life at home. Constantly frustrated by money troubles, he manages to find solace in simple pleasures fixing up an old car, slow dancing with his wife in the kitchen, or quietly holding his daughter."The highest example of contemporary black life put on cinema." -Armond White, Film Comment
"The film of the season, if not the year, is a Southern California slice-of-life from 1977 that hasn't aged a day... A stirring and sophisticated evocation of working-class Watts." -Nathan Lee, The Village Voice
"Free of ghetto cliches that fill the movies made by people who have never lived in one, KILLER OF SHEEP is a strongly individual portrait of black, working class America." -Seattle P-I
"Burnett uses the film language of experimental documentaries for his urban pastoral--an episodic series of scenes that are sweet, sardonic, deeply sad, and very funny." -Seattle Weekly
You may watch a video of the discussion panel here. Special thanks to Paul Jackson, videographer for this event!
On another note...our belated, but deeply sincere, thanks to everyone who attended this year's LHAAFF! We appreciate our audiences and look forward to welcoming you in 2008 for our 5th anniversary. We're planning more workshops for aspiring and experienced filmmakers, more repeat screenings of hard-to-find films, and a special 5th anniversary opening night event. Ticket and pass prices will remain affordable. We want the LHAAFF to remain an accessible, welcoming community events. Thank you, audiences and friends, for your support and enthusiasm!
Join us again at the the NW Film Forum in August 2007 for THE TRIALS OF DARRYL HUNT, a gripping documentary about the death penalty, justice, and perceptions of race and crime in America.
