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Interview: Maverick filmmaker Charles Burnett

Written by
Michael Smith
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Seeing the new restoration of Charles Burnett’s 1990 masterpiece To Sleep with Anger was a highlight of the recent Chicago International Film Festival. Perhaps even more exciting, though, was getting to talk to Burnett, who also received a lifetime achievement award at CIFF. Here are just a few of the great things the filmmaker had to say. 

In To Sleep with Anger, Danny Glover gives a tremendous performance and seems to have been instrumental in getting the film made. Was the lead role written for him? 

He was certainly instrumental in getting it made because his name leant a lot of weight, you know? But the story was written with no particular actor in mind. In fact, when it was finished, we thought of Danny, but we also had heard this rumor that he didn’t want to play older parts because of the stigma. We gave it to him to play one of the brothers, I think. He read the script and we had a discussion. Then he said, “Can I read for the older part? I’ll play whatever you want but I just want to see because it really appeals to me.” 

You're known for your masterful use of music. Who can forget Sister Rosetta Tharpe at the beginning of To Sleep with Anger? And the soundtrack of Killer of Sheep is very eclectic. Where does your love of music come from?

My mother played the blues a lot and also church music. Sister Rosetta Tharpe was one of the ones she played over and over and over again. There were a lot of music pieces I listened to somewhat unconsciously... I came to appreciate these songs and the blues as I got a little bit more experience in life. And these records were on these old 78s. They were like clay almost; if you just touch them, they’ll break. So I wanted to preserve them in a way. But then I was listening to them and they conjure up these images, so that was also a part of it. Some of the scenes in Killer of Sheep came about through listening to some of these songs. 

Can you talk about the L.A. Rebellion, the incredible movement of black filmmakers you were part of in the 1970s? It seems like a lot of you are working outside the U.S. or working in TV or making documentaries. Is it difficult to raise money, and if so, what will it take for African-American cinema to come to the forefront again in terms of independent narrative filmmaking?

A lot of us are still making films here. We try to find work wherever we can. With the new technology and how simple it is to get a film shot, there are still other elements you have to pay for. And crowdfunding, you’d think it’s a way, but it’s still so difficult. I mean, I get so many Kickstarter and Indiegogo notices...And I feel so bad, you know? If I (pledged) the little money I do have, I’d be working to pay for other people’s Kickstarters. You can only do that for so long. But comparatively speaking, it’s better here than it is abroad...I think the problem is distribution: How do you make a film and then make enough money to pay everybody? That’s the next step. I think once that’s resolved—how to distribute a film and make some money from it—it’ll be easier to start making the films you want to make.

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