Charles Burnett
8 Episodes
Charles Burnett is an unsung master of American cinema who led the way for black independent filmmakers to tell their stories on-screen with poetic-realist revelations like KILLER OF SHEEP and TO SLEEP WITH ANGER. In this original documentary, Burnett joins another trailblazing African American director, Robert Townsend (HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE), for a stroll through the Watts neighborhood in Los Angeles where Burnett grew up. As they visit key locations from his life and films, Burnett reflects on the impact the neighborhood has had on his art, the process of making his enormously influential films, and what it means for him to tell stories that center people of color.
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Meet the Filmmakers: Charles Burnett Trailer
Episode 1
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56:13Episode 2A Walk with Charles Burnett
Episode 2
Charles Burnett is an unsung master of American cinema who led the way for black independent filmmakers to tell their stories on-screen with poetic-realist revelations like KILLER OF SHEEP and TO SLEEP WITH ANGER. In this original documentary, Burnett joins another trailblazing African American d...
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22:03Episode 3Several Friends
Episode 3
Directed by Charles Burnett • 1969 • United States
Charles Burnett’s first film already displays the director’s neorealist, poetry-of-the-everyday style as it follows a group of friends over the course of an aimless day in Los Angeles.
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1:20:36Episode 5My Brother's Wedding
Episode 5
Directed by Charles Burnett • 1983 • United States
Starring Everett Silas, Jessie Holmes, Gaye Shannon-BurnettRecut and restored twenty-five years after its ill-fated premiere, Charles Burnett’s second feature is an eye-opening revelation—wise, funny, heartbreaking, and timeless. Pierce Mundy w...
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13:25Episode 6When it Rains
Episode 6
Directed by Charles Burnett • 1995 • United States
Charles Burnett paints a jazz- and poetry-inflected portrait of African American community and resilience via the story of a mother who enlists a musician’s help when she is evicted on New Year’s Day.
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55:05Episode 7The Final Insult
Episode 7
Directed by Charles Burnett • 1997 • United States
Charles Burnett cannily blends documentary and dramatic action with this searing, savagely ironic tale of a bank employee reduced to living out of his car, in a character study that doubles as a compassionate portrait of Los Angeles’s homeless c...
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05:34Episode 8Quiet as Kept
Episode 8
Directed by Charles Burnett • 2007 • United States
A squabble reveals the anxieties and generational differences within a New Orleans family displaced by Hurricane Katrina in this alternately comedic and casually profound video work.
