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A quiet revelation of American independent filmmaking, Charles Burnett’s lyrical debut feature unfolds as a mosaic of Black life in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, where Stan (Henry Gayle Sanders), a father worn down by his job in a slaughterhouse, and his wife (Kaycee Moore) seek moments of tenderness in the face of myriad disappointments. Equally attuned to the world of children and that of adults, Burnett—acting as director, writer, producer, cinematographer, and editor—finds poetry amid everyday struggles in indelible images that glow with compassionate beauty. Largely unseen for decades following its completion in 1977, Killer of Sheep is now recognized as a touchstone of the groundbreaking LA Rebellion movement, and a masterpiece that brought Black American lives to the screen with an aching intimacy like no film before.

Killer of Sheep was restored and remastered by UCLA Film & Television Archive, Milestone Films, and the Criterion Collection.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Charles Burnett, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
Audio commentary featuring Burnett and film scholar Richard Peña
New interviews with Burnett and actor Henry Gayle Sanders
New appreciation by filmmaker Barry Jenkins
Two short films by Burnett: Several Friends (1969) and The Horse (1973), with a new introduction to the latter by Burnett
Excerpt from the 2010 UCLA LA Rebellion Oral History Project, featuring an interview with Burnett by film scholar Jacqueline Stewart
A Walk with Charles Burnett (2019), a documentary by Robert Townsend
Cast reunion from 2007
Trailer
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: An essay by critic Danielle Amir Jackson

Package design by Slang Inc. with Eric Skillman

They’re recycling the Townsend extra from To Sleep With Anger?

A bit saddened that My Brother's Wedding isn't being doubled up with this film, but also it's heartening to think that it might get its own, individual release, which it absolutely deserves. Otherwise this is the best Criterion announcement of the year.

What A Disgrace wrote: Fri Feb 14, 2025 4:43 pm A bit saddened that My Brother's Wedding isn't being doubled up with this film, but also it's heartening to think that it might get its own, individual release, which it absolutely deserves. Otherwise this is the best Criterion announcement of the year.

Just about to say what a cheap packaging that can’t even match the DVD for this very reason.

Will add my hope to What a Disgrace's. Wedding's a good enough that it doesn't need to be relegated to (or thought of as) a DVD extra. Just hope it isn't stranded between releases forever.

But of course Killer of Sheep belongs in the collection and is a long overdue upgrade.

The Horse is an excellent Faulknerian miniature if my memory is correct, and while Several Friends is more on the rough side, it has some interesting ideas, definitely a step towards the main feature here. And where was all this My Brother's Wedding love during the 80s list? It is indeed a great one.

Yeah, I don't mind if My Brother's Wedding gets its own release, especially if it motivates them to do a more careful job on the encoding. (If it was thrown on an extra, I feel like it would've been a gamble as to whether they would've done the best possible job in encoding it.) I only hope they present both the original cut and new cut - I know Burnett prefers the later cut as the older cut wasn't really fine-tuned yet, but the older cut has merit and there are people who prefer it.

Do I recall correctly that the Milestone release used a different song recording from the original theatrical version? (Billie Holliday?) Curious to know if I’ve got that memory correct and, if so, if the song change holds true for this release too.

bdsweeney wrote: Fri Feb 14, 2025 9:54 pm Do I recall correctly that the Milestone release used a different song recording from the original theatrical version? (Billie Holliday?) Curious to know if I’ve got that memory correct and, if so, if the song change holds true for this release too.

This is correct about the music change. I made this note when I made the assumption Criterion was going to release this a few months back. I mentioned that how it was a UCLA production, if UCLA plays the film, they can play the original audio cue.

My Brother's Wedding is one of my 4 or 5 favorite films ever (and I love both cuts). I was expecting Milestone might eventually upgrade their edition so I held off on buying the DVD. Seeing this get released is a no-brainer, but losing that film (and one of the shorts) is a tragedy that I worry might not get rectified. Hoping I get a surprise and it gets a standalone in the next year or so.

The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote: Fri Feb 14, 2025 10:36 pm

bdsweeney wrote: Fri Feb 14, 2025 9:54 pm Do I recall correctly that the Milestone release used a different song recording from the original theatrical version? (Billie Holliday?) Curious to know if I’ve got that memory correct and, if so, if the song change holds true for this release too.

This is correct about the music change. I made this note when I made the assumption Criterion was going to release this a few months back. I mentioned that how it was a UCLA production, if UCLA plays the film, they can play the original audio cue.

Wait–I’ve only ever seen this on 35mm. Please tell me this isn’t about the Dinah Washington “This Bitter Earth,” one of the most moving needle drops ever…

I'm pretty sure that the BFI DVD has the Bitter Earth track. I hadn't seen the film prior to the DVD and it was wonderful to hear her voice against the original orchestration. Shutter Island had come out around the time I first watched Killer of Sheep and they'd combined her voice with a Max Richter track for the Scorsese film's end credits. So hopefully the new Killer of Sheep 4K retains the Washington song!

speaking of BFI, if anyone was curious if they'd be releasing a UK edition of this, I searched back and Ben Stoddart said four years ago that a renewal hadn't been possible to them at the time. I'm gonna guess Criterion has worldwide rights now and will put it out in the UK

bdsweeney wrote: Fri Feb 14, 2025 9:54 pm Do I recall correctly that the Milestone release used a different song recording from the original theatrical version? (Billie Holliday?) Curious to know if I’ve got that memory correct and, if so, if the song change holds true for this release too.

This is from the press kit for the new restoration:

Note: for the 2007 release of Killer of Sheep the song “Unforgettable” had to be replaced because the company that
controlled the publishing rights refused to license the song. At that time, Burnett chose to reprise Dinah Washington’s “This
Bitter Earth” from the dancing scene earlier in the film. The new 4K restores “Unforgettable” to the film’s soundtrack.

dadaistnun wrote:

bdsweeney wrote: Fri Feb 14, 2025 9:54 pm Do I recall correctly that the Milestone release used a different song recording from the original theatrical version? (Billie Holliday?) Curious to know if I’ve got that memory correct and, if so, if the song change holds true for this release too.

This is from the press kit for the new restoration:

Note: for the 2007 release of Killer of Sheep the song “Unforgettable” had to be replaced because the company that
controlled the publishing rights refused to license the song. At that time, Burnett chose to reprise Dinah Washington’s “This
Bitter Earth” from the dancing scene earlier in the film. The new 4K restores “Unforgettable” to the film’s soundtrack.

Thank you for the clarification.

Wonder if the music industry's decimated revenue over the past 15-20 years helped them negotiate an affordable rate. Pre-rock pop music has been hit especially hard since 2007, for the grim reason that much of its audience has passed on.

DVDBeaver... the caps are from the bluray

Ross Lipman on restoring the film:
it "had its première in 1978, and you might presume that what was screened then would logically be the truest and the most dependable version of the film. That might be so, Lipman argues, for high-end Hollywood products, but not for a low-budget independent movie like Burnett’s:

"In this case, emulating an old release print is preserving the work not of the filmmaker but whoever worked the night shift at Deluxe Labs on a given night in 1975."

It was by returning to the original camera negative that Lipman found a wealth of visual information; the face of a boy being chided by his father, in the movie’s opening shot, stood out more lucidly than before. /.../ Flat, drizzly grays, not least in shots of sidewalks and roadways, acquired a bite and a depth that they had previously lacked. /.../ it ends, to the sound of Dinah Washington singing “Unforgettable”—a song not heard in that spot until the recent restoration".
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025 ... estoration

Late to the discussion, but here are some answers...

MY BROTHER'S WEDDING has not been forgotten. Milestone still owns the rights. Same with the short films.
Yes, both the Milestone and BFI DVD release in 2008 had to replace Unforgettable with a reprise of This Bitter Earth because the rights holder had refused us the original song. Coming back 17 years later, the new people in the company were glad to sell the rights.
The music rights were NOT cheaper than in 2007. However, this time around, Milestone was able to get perpetuity so that Killer of Sheep will never have to be cleared again.
As for international rights and the BFI, Kino Lorber is handling the rights for Milestone and hopefully some deals will be made so KoS will be easier to obtain for people internationally.
We're thrilled that we could work with our friends at Criterion to bring out an authorative edition this time around!