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Acclaimed filmmaker visits Student Center

Charles Burnett, a highly regarded filmmaker, will make his debut at the Student Center Wednesday to screen two of his works exploring the blues and the ghetto experience of the South, which were listed in the National Film Registry in 1990.

From 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., the Student Center Auditorium will screen "Warming the Devil‚s Fire," a short documentary about a boy who discovers the blues while spending his summer in Mississippi in the 1950s. This film is one of seven short films that were featured in the "Martin Scorcese Presents the Blues: A Musical Journey" documentary series.

David Nicholson, a writer for the Washington Post, describes Burnett‚s works as "conscious attempts to make art--in the sense of rendering experience truthfully and faithfully--instead of entertainment ΣWhile eminently accessible, Burnett's are not easy films. He does not condescend to his audience with Hollywood conventions ... His characters are real people in real situations, trying, as all of us must, to work out their destinies."

"Killer of Sheep," a 1977 film Burnett wrote, produced, directed, edited and worked on as a cinematographer, was the filmmaker‚s first feature film. The film will be screened at 7:30 p.m. Recorded in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, the film was made with a budget of less than $20,000.

The story evolves around a slaughterhouse worker who struggles with poverty and violence surrounding his life. The film also won the critic‚s prize at the 1981 Berlin Film Festival.

Burnett‚s more recent works include, "Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property" (2003), "The Annihilation of Fish" (1999) and "To Sleep with Anger" (1990), starring Danny Glover.

The film screenings are in honor of Black History Month, but Carl Ervin, coordinator of Multicultural Programs and Services, said film students should benefit from Burnett‚s visit.

"He‚s a world-class personality and it will be great for the students to see someone like that," he said. "They will learn from a pioneer˜learn a lot about the trials and tribulations of independent filmmaking."

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