Biography
Charles Burnett is an American film director, producer, writer, editor, actor, photographer, and cinematographer. His most popular films include Killer of Sheep (1977), My Brother’s Wedding (1983), To Sleep with Anger (1990), The Glass Shield (1994), and Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation (2007). He has been involved in other types of motion pictures including shorts, documentaries, and a TV series. Considered by the Chicago Tribune as “one of America’s very best filmmakers”, and by the New York Times as “the nation’s least-known great filmmaker and most gifted black director”, Charles Burnett has had a long and diverse filmmaking career.
Directed
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Killer of Sheep (1978) — Director
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To Sleep with Anger (1990) — Director
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The Glass Shield (1994) — Director
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When It Rains (1995) — Director
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The Blues (2003) — Director
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My Brother's Wedding (1983) — Director
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Independent Lens (1999) — Director
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The Annihilation of Fish (1999) — Director
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Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property (2003) — Director
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Selma, Lord, Selma (1999) — Director
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Several Friends (1969) — Director
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The Horse (1973) — Director
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Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation (2007) — Director
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Nightjohn (1996) — Director
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Relative Stranger (2009) — Director
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Warming by the Devil's Fire (2003) — Director
- Quiet as Kept (2007) — Director
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The Wedding (1998) — Director
- Documenta X - Die Filme (1997) — Director
- Olivia's Story (2000) — Director
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42 One Dream Rush (2010) — Director
- For Reel? (2003) — Director
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America Becoming (1991) — Director
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Cinetracts '20 (2020) — Director
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Finding Buck McHenry (2000) — Director
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The Power to Heal: Medicare and the Civil Rights Revolution (2018) — Director
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The Final Insult (1997) — Director
Also appeared in
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These Amazing Shadows (2011) — Self
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The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011) — Self
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Is That Black Enough for You?!? (2022) — Self
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Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property (2003) — Lucinda
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We Blew It (2017) — Self
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Hollywood Black (2024) — Self
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Dreams Are Colder Than Death (2014) — Self
- Olivia's Story (2000) — Umpire
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Charles Burnett : Le rebelle silencieux de Watts (2022) — Self
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A Walk with Charles Burnett (2019) — Self
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Spirits of Rebellion: Black Cinema at UCLA (2016) — Himself