![‘Killer Of Sheep’ Trailer: Charles Burnett’s Poetic Street Classic Returns In New 4K Restoration For 48th Anniversary [Chris]](https://cdn.theplaylist.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/18230855/killer-of-sheep_still-008lg.jpg "‘Killer Of Sheep’ Trailer: Charles Burnett’s Poetic Street Classic Returns In New 4K Restoration For 48th Anniversary [Chris]")
A trailer for Charles Burnett‘s 1977 film “Killer of Sheep” has made it’s way to us ahead of the film’s 4K restoriation for the 48th anniversary as Milestone Films and Kino Lorber are proud to announce the theatrical release in April.
Largely considered a landmark independent cinematic masterpiece and previously named as one of the first fifty films to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry in 1990 among other substantial aaccolades.”Killer of Sheep,” will be magnificently restored in 4K with sparkling picture and sound.
Audiences will be able to experience one of the crown jewels of the Black indie filmmaking movement known as the L.A. Rebellion as it will head to the big screen on April 18 at the Film Forum NYC.
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Burnett filmed in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles during the 70s as the filmmaker used the movie as his UCLA thesis film after juggling plenty of hats on the indie such as director, producer, cinematgrapher/camerman, and editor. Some of the charm of “Killer of Sheep” is because Burnett made it on a minuscule budget with a mostly nonprofessional cast, combining a keen on-the-street observation with a carefully crafted script with limited resources in mind.
A synopsis for the anniversay restoration reads:
The story centers on Stan (Henry Gayle Sanders), a slaughterhouse worker battling exhaustion and disconnected from his wife, his children, and himself. Stan and his neighbors struggle just to get by, let alone get ahead. Only the kids, leaping from roof to roof, seem to achieve a mobility that eludes their elders. Burnett’s film focuses on everyday life in Black communities in a manner rarely seen in American cinema – combining lyrical elements with a starkly neorealist, documentary-style approach that combines deep nuance with riveting simplicity. 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.”
Revisting or wacthing for the first time is certainly encouged as “the film evokes the everyday trials, fragile pleasures, and tenacious humor of blue-collar African Americans living in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles in the 1970s.”
That new 4K restoration of “Killer of Sheep” also restores the original soundtrack in its entirety, including the original closing song, Dinah Washington‘s performance of “Unforgettable.” You can watch that new 4K trailer for the film, widley considered a touchstone in African American cinema, below:
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