In honor of Martin Luther King Day, TCM will be featuring Charles Burnett’s films tonight. Don’t know who he is? Well that is not too surprising. The New York Times put it all too well; Charles Burnett is “the nation’s least-known great filmmaker and most gifted black director.” I blogged on Charles Burnett a few months ago click here to read my post. I am stoked about watching these relatively obscure films. All his films deal with the black experience in America.
Back in the day black filmmakers were not given the applause and recognition they deserved. Burnett and others in the UCLA film school got together to make films depicting black experience in America. They were tired of the “blaxploitation” of the day and produced a number of shorts and movies. Soon they would be known as the “LA Rebellion,” or the “LA School.” Although many of Burnett’s films became obscure, they are now being honored and rewarded by the American Film Institute, Howard University’s Paul Robeson Award, New York Film Critics Circle Awards, and his directorial debut movie “Killer of Sheep,” was declared a national treasure by Library of Congress. I guess we can say that Burnett has finally seen the fruits of his labor.
These are movies that just can’t be missed by the classic movie buff. They are historically important and sure to be movies that will impact generations to come.
TCM will feature the following tonight EST:
8:00 PM Killer of Sheep (1977)
9:40 PM The Horse (1969 movie short)
10:00PM My Brother’s Wedding (1983)
11:30 PM When it Rains (Critic Jonathan Rosenbaum chose this short as one of the “Ten Best Films of All Time” calling it “a near miracle!”)
12:00 AM Several Friends
