Directed by Billy Woodberry • 1984 • United States
Starring Nate Hardman, Kaycee Moore, Angela Burnett
Scripted and shot by Charles Burnett, Billy Woodberry’s slice-of-life revelation is a key masterpiece of the LA Rebellion, the black independent-cinema renaissance that emerged from UCLA’s film school in the 1970s and ’80s. BLESS THEIR LITTLE HEARTS distills the social concerns and neorealist aesthetics of the movement into a sensitive exploration of the inner workings of community and family that pays homage to the power of the blues. Searching for steady work, Charlie Banks (Nate Hardman) views his chronic unemployment as a kind of spiritual trial. But day work and selling a few catfish can’t sustain a family of five. While his wife Andais (a remarkable Kaycee Moore) works to support them with dignity, Charlie finds comfort for his wounded sense of manhood in an affair that threatens his marriage and family.
Up Next in American Independents
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Chameleon Street
Directed by Wendell B. Harris Jr. • 1989 • United States
Starring Wendell B. Harris Jr., Angela Leslie, Amina FakirWinner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 1990 Sundance Film Festival—yet criminally underseen for over three decades—CHAMELEON STREET recounts the improbable but true story of Michiga...
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The Killing Floor
Directed by Bill Duke • 1984 • United States
Starring Damien Leake, Alfre Woodard, Moses GunnOriginally broadcast on PBS’s “American Playhouse” in 1984, the stirring first feature from actor and filmmaker Bill Duke explores the little-known story of an African American migrant’s struggle to bui...
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Clean, Shaven
Directed by Lodge Kerrigan • 1994 • United States
Starring Peter Greene, Robert Albert, Megan OwenLodge Kerrigan began his succession of utterly unique, visually and aurally dazzling character studies with the raw, ravaging CLEAN, SHAVEN. A compelling headfirst dive into the mindscape of a schi...
