MoMA 2011 / Charles Burnett: The Power to Endure
Le MoMA rend hommage au cinéaste américain Charles Burnett.
© Charles Burnett on the set of The Glass Shield. 1994. USA. Written and directed by Charles Burnett
Français
FILM EXHIBITIONS
Charles Burnett: The Power to Endure
April 6-25, 2011
Charles Burnett has long borne the dubious distinction of being, as critic Armond White observed, « the least well-known great American filmmaker. » In Charles Burnett: Interviews (University Press of Mississippi, 2011), Burnett cites the phrase « the power to endure » as a motif his films share with William Faulkner’s novels; the phrase applies equally well to the indomitable characters who inhabit Burnett’s cinema, and to Burnett’s own struggle to get his films made in accordance with his vision.
Each of Burnett’s films can be seen to chronicle some aspect of the black experience in America, offering black and white audiences alike a moving representation and triumphant appreciation of African American culture, with a strong emphasis on both the rewards and burdens of family. It should be evident from the films presented in this retrospective that Burnett is a talent deserving of a much larger audience.
Charles Burnett and Robert Kapsis will be signing copies of Kapsis’s new book Charles Burnett: Interviews on Friday, April 8, at 7:00 p.m. in the film lobby.
—————————————-
Organized by Charles Silver, Curator, Department of Film, and Professor Robert Kapsis, Department of Sociology and Film Studies, Queens College (CUNY). Special thanks to Charles Burnett, Cinema Libre, Milestone Films, UCLA Film & Television Archive, Carolyn Schroeder, Dai Sil Kim-Gibson, Paul Alan Smith, Sony Pictures, Showtime, Miramax, The Hallmark Channel, The Walt Disney Company, American Sterling, Billy Woodberry, Dennis Doros and Amy Heller, California Newsreel, Vulcan productions, ABC Films, Swank Motion Pictures, Ross Lipman, Richard Pena, Billy Woodberry, Kathie Coblentz, Carl Lumbly, and Cotty Chubb.
The exhibition is made possible by The Friends of Education of The Museum of Modern Art.
Related Film Screenings
Film Screenings & Events
Killer of Sheep
1977. USA. Written, directed, produced, photographed, and edited by Charles Burnett. With Henry Gayle Sanders, Kaycee Moore, Charles Bracy, Eugene Cherry.
Burnett’s first feature is a harsh Neorealist portrait of Los Angeles ghetto life, vitalized by the kind of humanism that the director valued in the films of Jean Renoir. Hampered by his inability to secure music rights, Burnett finally saw the film go into general release 30 years after its completion. 80 min.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011, 7:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1 (Introduced by Burnett)
Wednesday, April 13, 2011, 4:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
My Brother’s Wedding
1983 [director’s cut, 2007]. USA. Written, directed, produced, and photographed by Charles Burnett. With Everett Silas, Jessie Holmes, Gaye Shannon-Burnett.
This very funny film, which highlights the director’s ironic take on family life, is shot in a straightforward style with naturalistic performances reminiscent of Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets. Financed in part by German television, it remained without a theatrical release until 1991, and a version approximating the director’s intentions had to wait until 2007. 81 min.
Thursday, April 7, 2011, 4:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1 (Introduced by Burnett)
Saturday, April 9, 2011, 2:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Sunday, April 10, 2011, 1:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
To Sleep with Anger
1990. USA. Written and directed by Charles Burnett. With Danny Glover, Paul Butler, Mary Alice, Carl Lumbly, Vonetta McGee, Richard Brooks, Sheryl Lee Ralph.
Burnett continues his dissection of families with a vengeance. His acknowledgment of African American mythology is laced with rich humor and transitions that recall the films of Yasujiro Ozu. Hailed as a masterpiece by numerous critics, the film features a brilliant performance by Glover. 102 min.
Thursday, April 7, 2011, 8:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1 (Introduced by Burnett. Following the screening, several participants in the making of the film will be available for a discussion.)
Saturday, April 16, 2011, 4:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
The Glass Shield
1994. USA. Written and directed by Charles Burnett. With Michael Boatman, Lori Petty, Ice Cube, Elliott Gould.
Burnett’s first major studio venture-it was released by Miramax-is a provocative and suspenseful commentary on the efforts of a young black officer to be integrated into the all-white Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. In the process, his own values are sorely tested, and most of the police come up short on any scale of justice. 115 min.
Friday, April 8, 2011, 4:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1 (Introduced by Burnett)
Wednesday, April 13, 2011, 8:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
The Annihilation of Fish
1999. USA. Directed by Charles Burnett. With James Earl Jones, Lynn Redgrave, Margot Kidder.
This bizarre comedy pairs the legendary Jones with Lynn Redgrave (the late younger sister of Vanessa Redgrave, with whom Jones is currently appearing on Broadway). The film includes a trademark Burnett wedding scene-this time with an invisible groom-and Kidder seems to channel Beulah Bondi’s performance from Jean Renoir’s The Southerner, one of Burnett’s favorite films. 108 min.
Friday, April 8, 2011, 8:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1 (Introduced by Burnett)
Thursday, April 14, 2011, 4:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation
2007. Namibia. Written and directed by Charles Burnett. Produced by the Namibia Film Commission and the Pan Afrikan Center of Namibia. With Carl Lumbly, Danny Glover.
This widescreen epic chronicles the rise of Sam Nujoma (Lumbly) to the head of the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) in the fight to end the South African occupation of Namibia, and his subsequent election as the first president of the independent country. This David Lean-esque epic, beautifully photographed on location, showed that Burnett could translate his values and obsessions to a much broader canvas when given the opportunity. In English, several other languages; English subtitles. 161 min.
Saturday, April 9, 2011, 5:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1 (Introduced by Charles Burnett)
Saturday, April 23, 2011, 3:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
The Final Insult
1997. USA. Written and directed by Charles Burnett. With Ayuko Babu, Charles Bracy.
This video work intermingles fiction with actuality in a poignant confrontation with homelessness. 55 min.
Sunday, April 10, 2011, 5:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Wednesday, April 20, 2011, 4:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
Bless Their Little Hearts
1984. USA. Directed by Billy Woodberry. Written and photographed by Charles Burnett. With Nate Hardman, Kaycee Moore, Angela Burnett, Ronald Burnett, Kimberly Burnett.
Reminiscent of Killer of Sheep, this Burnett-Woodberry collaboration is a low-key portrait of enduring life in Watts. Woodberry, Burnett, and Haile Gerima, director of 1979’s Bush Mama, which Burnett also photographed, were friends at UCLA and shared much of their experience and anger. 80 min.
Thursday, April 14, 2011, 8:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Friday, April 22, 2011, 4:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
A Program of Short Films by Charles Burnett
Since his student days, Burnett has continued to make short films.
Several Friends. USA. Directed by Charles Burnett. 1969. 21 min.
The Horse. USA. Directed by Charles Burnett. 1973. 14 min.
When It Rains. USA. Directed by Charles Burnett. 1995. 13 min.
Olivia’s Story. USA. Directed by Charles Burnett. 2000. 14 min.
Quiet As Kept. USA. Directed by Charles Burnett. 2007. 6 min.
Program running time 68 mins.
Friday, April 15, 2011, 4:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2 (Introduced by Dai Sil Kim-Gibson)
Saturday, April 16, 2011, 7:30 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Film Screenings & Events
America Becoming
1991. USA. Directed by Charles Burnett. Screenplay by Dai Sil Kim-Gibson, Charles Burnett. Cinematography by Burnett. Narrated by Meredith Vieira.
A prophetic PBS documentary about America’s shifting demographics. 90 min.
Friday, April 15, 2011, 7:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2 (Introduced by Dai Sil Kim-Gibson)
Monday, April 18, 2011, 7:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
Selma, Lord, Selma
1999. USA. Directed by Charles Burnett. With Jurnee Smollet, Mackenzie Astin, Clifton Powell, Ella Joyce, Yolanda King, Elizabeth Omilami.
This Disney television movie provided Burnett with the opportunity for a deeply felt tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Civil Rights movement. The film is admirably simple and direct, and the fine performance by Smollet demonstrates the gift for directing children that is evident in so much of Burnett’s work. 94 min.
Saturday, April 16, 2011, 1:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Monday, April 18, 2011, 4:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
Nightjohn
1996. USA. Directed by Charles Burnett. With Carl Lumbly, Beau Bridges, Lorraine Toussaint, Bill Cobbs, Allison Jones.
This Disney television movie, which movingly re-creates plantation life during slavery and deals (as do so many of Burnett’s films) with the complications of family, is marked by superb performances. 96 min.
Sunday, April 17, 2011, 2:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Saturday, April 23, 2011, 8:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
Finding Buck McHenry
2000. USA. Directed by Charles Burnett. With Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Ernie Banks, Michael Schiffman.
In this Showtime television movie, Davis plays a school custodian who may have been a star in the Negro Leagues. Dee, who had starred opposite Jackie Robinson in his film biography a half-century earlier, comes full circle, playing opposite her husband (Davis) and the great Chicago Cubs infielder Ernie Banks, whose career was made possible by Robinson’s courageous precedent. 94 min.
Sunday, April 17, 2011, 5:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Monday, April 25, 2011, 8:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
Silence Broken: Korean Comfort Women
1998. USA/South Korea. Produced and directed by Charles Burnett (uncredited), Dai Sil Kim-Gibson. A documentary exploration of the exploitation of women during the Japanese occupation of Korea. English, Korean; English subtitles. 88 min.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011, 7:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Monday, April 25, 2011, 4:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property
2003. USA. Directed by Charles Burnett. Screenplay by Burnett, Frank Christopher, Kenneth S. Greenberg. With Carl Lumbly, William Styron, Henry Louis Gates, Burnett. Narrated by Alfre Woodard.
This PBS documentary explores the differing views on the leader of the 1831 slave rebellion. 58 min.
Thursday, April 21, 2011, 4:30 p.m., Theater 3, mezzanine, Education and Research Building
Sunday, April 24, 2011, 5:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
Warming by the Devil’s Fire
2003. USA. Written and directed by Charles Burnett. With Tommy Redmond Hicks, Nathaniel Lee, Jr. Narrated by Carl Lumbly.
Episode 4 from the PBS documentary series The Blues. This history of the blues includes much archival footage of Muddy Waters, Bessie Smith, Dinah Washington, and many others. In Burnett’s hands, it becomes an autobiographical exploration of his own roots in the South. 106 min.
Thursday, April 21, 2011, 8:30 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Sunday, April 24, 2011, 2:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
A Panel of Charles Burnett’s Collaborators and Critics
Scholars and fellow filmmakers discuss the director’s work and wide-reaching influence. Details will be available shortly.
Friday, April 22, 2011, 8:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Charles Burnett: The Power to Endure
April 6-25, 2011
Charles Burnett has long borne the dubious distinction of being, as critic Armond White observed, « the least well-known great American filmmaker. » In Charles Burnett: Interviews (University Press of Mississippi, 2011), Burnett cites the phrase « the power to endure » as a motif his films share with William Faulkner’s novels; the phrase applies equally well to the indomitable characters who inhabit Burnett’s cinema, and to Burnett’s own struggle to get his films made in accordance with his vision.
Each of Burnett’s films can be seen to chronicle some aspect of the black experience in America, offering black and white audiences alike a moving representation and triumphant appreciation of African American culture, with a strong emphasis on both the rewards and burdens of family. It should be evident from the films presented in this retrospective that Burnett is a talent deserving of a much larger audience.
Charles Burnett and Robert Kapsis will be signing copies of Kapsis’s new book Charles Burnett: Interviews on Friday, April 8, at 7:00 p.m. in the film lobby.
—————————————-
Organized by Charles Silver, Curator, Department of Film, and Professor Robert Kapsis, Department of Sociology and Film Studies, Queens College (CUNY). Special thanks to Charles Burnett, Cinema Libre, Milestone Films, UCLA Film & Television Archive, Carolyn Schroeder, Dai Sil Kim-Gibson, Paul Alan Smith, Sony Pictures, Showtime, Miramax, The Hallmark Channel, The Walt Disney Company, American Sterling, Billy Woodberry, Dennis Doros and Amy Heller, California Newsreel, Vulcan productions, ABC Films, Swank Motion Pictures, Ross Lipman, Richard Pena, Billy Woodberry, Kathie Coblentz, Carl Lumbly, and Cotty Chubb.
The exhibition is made possible by The Friends of Education of The Museum of Modern Art.
Related Film Screenings
Film Screenings & Events
Killer of Sheep
1977. USA. Written, directed, produced, photographed, and edited by Charles Burnett. With Henry Gayle Sanders, Kaycee Moore, Charles Bracy, Eugene Cherry.
Burnett’s first feature is a harsh Neorealist portrait of Los Angeles ghetto life, vitalized by the kind of humanism that the director valued in the films of Jean Renoir. Hampered by his inability to secure music rights, Burnett finally saw the film go into general release 30 years after its completion. 80 min.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011, 7:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1 (Introduced by Burnett)
Wednesday, April 13, 2011, 4:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
My Brother’s Wedding
1983 [director’s cut, 2007]. USA. Written, directed, produced, and photographed by Charles Burnett. With Everett Silas, Jessie Holmes, Gaye Shannon-Burnett.
This very funny film, which highlights the director’s ironic take on family life, is shot in a straightforward style with naturalistic performances reminiscent of Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets. Financed in part by German television, it remained without a theatrical release until 1991, and a version approximating the director’s intentions had to wait until 2007. 81 min.
Thursday, April 7, 2011, 4:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1 (Introduced by Burnett)
Saturday, April 9, 2011, 2:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Sunday, April 10, 2011, 1:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
To Sleep with Anger
1990. USA. Written and directed by Charles Burnett. With Danny Glover, Paul Butler, Mary Alice, Carl Lumbly, Vonetta McGee, Richard Brooks, Sheryl Lee Ralph.
Burnett continues his dissection of families with a vengeance. His acknowledgment of African American mythology is laced with rich humor and transitions that recall the films of Yasujiro Ozu. Hailed as a masterpiece by numerous critics, the film features a brilliant performance by Glover. 102 min.
Thursday, April 7, 2011, 8:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1 (Introduced by Burnett. Following the screening, several participants in the making of the film will be available for a discussion.)
Saturday, April 16, 2011, 4:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
The Glass Shield
1994. USA. Written and directed by Charles Burnett. With Michael Boatman, Lori Petty, Ice Cube, Elliott Gould.
Burnett’s first major studio venture-it was released by Miramax-is a provocative and suspenseful commentary on the efforts of a young black officer to be integrated into the all-white Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. In the process, his own values are sorely tested, and most of the police come up short on any scale of justice. 115 min.
Friday, April 8, 2011, 4:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1 (Introduced by Burnett)
Wednesday, April 13, 2011, 8:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
The Annihilation of Fish
1999. USA. Directed by Charles Burnett. With James Earl Jones, Lynn Redgrave, Margot Kidder.
This bizarre comedy pairs the legendary Jones with Lynn Redgrave (the late younger sister of Vanessa Redgrave, with whom Jones is currently appearing on Broadway). The film includes a trademark Burnett wedding scene-this time with an invisible groom-and Kidder seems to channel Beulah Bondi’s performance from Jean Renoir’s The Southerner, one of Burnett’s favorite films. 108 min.
Friday, April 8, 2011, 8:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1 (Introduced by Burnett)
Thursday, April 14, 2011, 4:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation
2007. Namibia. Written and directed by Charles Burnett. Produced by the Namibia Film Commission and the Pan Afrikan Center of Namibia. With Carl Lumbly, Danny Glover.
This widescreen epic chronicles the rise of Sam Nujoma (Lumbly) to the head of the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) in the fight to end the South African occupation of Namibia, and his subsequent election as the first president of the independent country. This David Lean-esque epic, beautifully photographed on location, showed that Burnett could translate his values and obsessions to a much broader canvas when given the opportunity. In English, several other languages; English subtitles. 161 min.
Saturday, April 9, 2011, 5:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1 (Introduced by Charles Burnett)
Saturday, April 23, 2011, 3:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
The Final Insult
1997. USA. Written and directed by Charles Burnett. With Ayuko Babu, Charles Bracy.
This video work intermingles fiction with actuality in a poignant confrontation with homelessness. 55 min.
Sunday, April 10, 2011, 5:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Wednesday, April 20, 2011, 4:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
Bless Their Little Hearts
1984. USA. Directed by Billy Woodberry. Written and photographed by Charles Burnett. With Nate Hardman, Kaycee Moore, Angela Burnett, Ronald Burnett, Kimberly Burnett.
Reminiscent of Killer of Sheep, this Burnett-Woodberry collaboration is a low-key portrait of enduring life in Watts. Woodberry, Burnett, and Haile Gerima, director of 1979’s Bush Mama, which Burnett also photographed, were friends at UCLA and shared much of their experience and anger. 80 min.
Thursday, April 14, 2011, 8:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Friday, April 22, 2011, 4:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
A Program of Short Films by Charles Burnett
Since his student days, Burnett has continued to make short films.
Several Friends. USA. Directed by Charles Burnett. 1969. 21 min.
The Horse. USA. Directed by Charles Burnett. 1973. 14 min.
When It Rains. USA. Directed by Charles Burnett. 1995. 13 min.
Olivia’s Story. USA. Directed by Charles Burnett. 2000. 14 min.
Quiet As Kept. USA. Directed by Charles Burnett. 2007. 6 min.
Program running time 68 mins.
Friday, April 15, 2011, 4:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2 (Introduced by Dai Sil Kim-Gibson)
Saturday, April 16, 2011, 7:30 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Film Screenings & Events
America Becoming
1991. USA. Directed by Charles Burnett. Screenplay by Dai Sil Kim-Gibson, Charles Burnett. Cinematography by Burnett. Narrated by Meredith Vieira.
A prophetic PBS documentary about America’s shifting demographics. 90 min.
Friday, April 15, 2011, 7:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2 (Introduced by Dai Sil Kim-Gibson)
Monday, April 18, 2011, 7:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
Selma, Lord, Selma
1999. USA. Directed by Charles Burnett. With Jurnee Smollet, Mackenzie Astin, Clifton Powell, Ella Joyce, Yolanda King, Elizabeth Omilami.
This Disney television movie provided Burnett with the opportunity for a deeply felt tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Civil Rights movement. The film is admirably simple and direct, and the fine performance by Smollet demonstrates the gift for directing children that is evident in so much of Burnett’s work. 94 min.
Saturday, April 16, 2011, 1:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Monday, April 18, 2011, 4:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
Nightjohn
1996. USA. Directed by Charles Burnett. With Carl Lumbly, Beau Bridges, Lorraine Toussaint, Bill Cobbs, Allison Jones.
This Disney television movie, which movingly re-creates plantation life during slavery and deals (as do so many of Burnett’s films) with the complications of family, is marked by superb performances. 96 min.
Sunday, April 17, 2011, 2:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Saturday, April 23, 2011, 8:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
Finding Buck McHenry
2000. USA. Directed by Charles Burnett. With Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Ernie Banks, Michael Schiffman.
In this Showtime television movie, Davis plays a school custodian who may have been a star in the Negro Leagues. Dee, who had starred opposite Jackie Robinson in his film biography a half-century earlier, comes full circle, playing opposite her husband (Davis) and the great Chicago Cubs infielder Ernie Banks, whose career was made possible by Robinson’s courageous precedent. 94 min.
Sunday, April 17, 2011, 5:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Monday, April 25, 2011, 8:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
Silence Broken: Korean Comfort Women
1998. USA/South Korea. Produced and directed by Charles Burnett (uncredited), Dai Sil Kim-Gibson. A documentary exploration of the exploitation of women during the Japanese occupation of Korea. English, Korean; English subtitles. 88 min.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011, 7:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Monday, April 25, 2011, 4:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property
2003. USA. Directed by Charles Burnett. Screenplay by Burnett, Frank Christopher, Kenneth S. Greenberg. With Carl Lumbly, William Styron, Henry Louis Gates, Burnett. Narrated by Alfre Woodard.
This PBS documentary explores the differing views on the leader of the 1831 slave rebellion. 58 min.
Thursday, April 21, 2011, 4:30 p.m., Theater 3, mezzanine, Education and Research Building
Sunday, April 24, 2011, 5:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
Warming by the Devil’s Fire
2003. USA. Written and directed by Charles Burnett. With Tommy Redmond Hicks, Nathaniel Lee, Jr. Narrated by Carl Lumbly.
Episode 4 from the PBS documentary series The Blues. This history of the blues includes much archival footage of Muddy Waters, Bessie Smith, Dinah Washington, and many others. In Burnett’s hands, it becomes an autobiographical exploration of his own roots in the South. 106 min.
Thursday, April 21, 2011, 8:30 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Sunday, April 24, 2011, 2:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Film Screenings & Events
A Panel of Charles Burnett’s Collaborators and Critics
Scholars and fellow filmmakers discuss the director’s work and wide-reaching influence. Details will be available shortly.
Friday, April 22, 2011, 8:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
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