ImageNation proudly presents two master films from the LA Rebellion. Recently restored and distributed by Milestone Films, these works have both been selected for the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress.
Monday May 22nd to Thursday May 25, 2017
KILLER OF SHEEP
Directed by Charles Burnett, 80 min., USA
Killer of Sheep examines the black Los Angeles ghetto of Watts in the mid-1970s through the eyes of Stan, a sensitive dreamer who is growing detached and numb from the psychic toll of working at a slaughterhouse.
Frustrated by money problems, he finds respite in moments of simple beauty: the warmth of a coffee cup against his cheek, slow dancing with his wife in the living room, holding his daughter. The film offers no solutions; it merely presents life — sometimes hauntingly bleak, sometimes filled with transcendent joy and gentle humor.
Monday May 22nd to Thursday May 25, 2017
KILLER OF SHEEP
Directed by Charles Burnett, 80 min., USA
Killer of Sheep examines the black Los Angeles ghetto of Watts in the mid-1970s through the eyes of Stan, a sensitive dreamer who is growing detached and numb from the psychic toll of working at a slaughterhouse.
Frustrated by money problems, he finds respite in moments of simple beauty: the warmth of a coffee cup against his cheek, slow dancing with his wife in the living room, holding his daughter. The film offers no solutions; it merely presents life — sometimes hauntingly bleak, sometimes filled with transcendent joy and gentle humor.
Monday May 22nd to Thursday May 25, 2017
BLESS THEIR LITTLE HEARTS
Directed by Billy Woodberry, 80 min., USA
Selected by the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress Bless Their Little Hearts explores the life of Charlie Banks.
Charlie Banks is looking for work… searching for it every day. But there are no jobs and unemployment is taking a toll on him and his family. His wife Andais is worn out working and taking of their young children. So Charlie takes day jobs whenever he can, cutting weeds and painting houses. At night, he falls asleep in the bathtub.
When Charlie reconnects with a lady friend, Andais notices that he is not bringing home all themoney from his day labor. Confronting him, she tells her husband she has been working like a dog while everyone has been laughing at her. “I can’t make people give me a job,” he screams back at her, “I try everyday.” “Don’t try, do it, do it!” Andais wails, “I’m tired, tired, tired. Start trying to be a man.”
ABOUT THE L.A. REBELLION
The L.A. Rebellion film movement, sometimes referred to as the "Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers", or the UCLA Rebellion, refers to the new generation of young African and African-American filmmakers who studied at the UCLA Film School in the late-1960s to the late-1980s and have created a Black Cinema that provides an alternative to classical Hollywood cinema.
L.A. Rebellion films that have been voted onto the National Film Preservation Board Film Registry: Killer of Sheep (1990), Daughters of the Dust (2004), Bless Their Little Hearts (2013).
Associated filmmakers include: Gay Abel-Bey, Anita W. Addison, Shirikiana Aina, Don Amis, Melvonna Ballenger, S. Torriano Berrry,
Carroll Parrott Blue, Storme' Bright (Sweet), Charles Burnett, Ben Caldwell, Larry Clark, Julie Dash, Zeinabu irene Davis, Pierre Desir, Alicia Dhanifu, Omah Diegu (Ijeoma Iloputaife), Jamaa Fanaka, Jacqueline Frazier, Haile Gerima, Alile Sharon Larkin, Barbara McCullough, Bernard Nicolas, O.Funmilayo Makarah, Thomas Penick, Imelda Sheen (Mildred Richard), Monona Wali, Grayling WIlliams, Robert Wheaton, Iverson White and Billy Woodberry.