KILLER OF SHEEP (1977)

Cast

Plot

Through the eyes of Stan, a sensitive dreamer who is growing detached and numb from the psychic toll of working at a slaughterhouse, we observe the black Los Angeles ghetto of Watts in the mid-1970s. Frustrated by money problems, Stan finds respite in moments of simple beauty: the warmth of a coffee cup against his cheek, slow dancing with his wife in the living room, holding his daughter. Killer of Sheep offers no solution to Stan's world, merely a presentation of his life and those around him; sometimes hauntingly bleak, sometimes filled with transcendent joy and gentle humour. Shot on location in Watts over a series of weekends, on a budget of less than $10,000, the film was shown only sporadically, but as its reputation grew this remarkably touching piece of work finally, deservedly, won a prize at the 1981 Berlin International Film Festival.