Resident Fellows

Charles Burnett || Spring 2004

The recipient of a 1988 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, Charles Burnett has been described by New Yorker critic Terrence Rafferty as “the nation’s least-known great filmmaker and most gifted black director.” Burnett’s first feature film, Killer of Sheep (1977), was selected among the first 50 films placed in the National Film Registry for preservation by the Library of Congress.

Film Studies hosted Burnett during April 2004. Burnett was able to screen some of his hard-to-see films during a week-long program of his work at the Pacific Film Archive. He participated in classes and a symposium on his films, and worked with students and faculty. The Film Studies program called Burnett’s visit a success, and said that “our program, the PFA, and African American Studies were greatly enriched by Burnett’s presence among us.” By the end of the screening series, “the house was full.”