Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows With Charles Burnett
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1. The Wonderful World of Disney (1997–2023)
TV-G | 120 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Experience the magic and adventure from Walt Disney world of color.
Stars: David Sparrow, Will Friedle, Joe Dinicol, Laurie Murdoch
Votes: 1,080
2. Is That Black Enough for You?!? (2022)
R | 135 min | Documentary, History
Tracks the history of Black cinema, focused mainly on the '70s, with archival and new interviews with many of the key players from the era.
Director: Elvis Mitchell | Stars: Elvis Mitchell, Margaret Avery, Harry Belafonte, Charles Burnett
Votes: 1,526
3. The Glass Shield (1994)
PG-13 | 109 min | Crime, Drama
Two cops become compelled to act against corruption and discrimination within their police precinct.
Director: Charles Burnett | Stars: Michael Boatman, Lori Petty, Erich Anderson, Richard Anderson
Votes: 3,577 | Gross: $3.31M
4. Independent Lens (1999– )
TV-14 | Documentary
Independent Lens is an award-winning PBS documentary series that streams on the PBS App and airs on public television. Independent Lens documentaries focus on stories of underrepresented ... See full summary »
Stars: America Ferrera, Terrence Howard, Stanley Tucci, Mary-Louise Parker
Votes: 635
5. The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011)
Not Rated | 62 min | Documentary, History
A comprehensive history of the medium and art of motion pictures.
Stars: Mark Cousins, Juan Diego Botto, Aleksandr Sokurov, Norman Lloyd
Votes: 4,838
6. Killer of Sheep (1978)
80 min | Drama
Set in the Watts area of Los Angeles, a slaughterhouse worker must suspend his emotions to continue working at a job he finds repugnant, and then he finds he has little sensitivity for the family he works so hard to support.
Director: Charles Burnett | Stars: Henry G. Sanders, Kaycee Moore, Charles Bracy, Angela Burnett
Votes: 7,551 | Gross: $0.40M
7. To Sleep with Anger (1990)
PG | 102 min | Drama
A charismatic old acquaintance drifts into town, stirring up trouble for a mild-mannered family.
Director: Charles Burnett | Stars: Danny Glover, Paul Butler, DeVaughn Nixon, Mary Alice
Votes: 2,922 | Gross: $1.16M
8. The Wedding (1998 TV Movie)
180 min | Drama, Romance
In 1950s Massachusetts, a wealthy black woman engaged to a poor white beatnik learns about her family history. The stories revolve around the racial and class complexities of interracial and class-based marriages.
Director: Charles Burnett | Stars: Halle Berry, Eric Thal, Lynn Whitfield, Carl Lumbly
Votes: 550
9. American Family (2002–2004)
45 min | Drama, Family
The head of the household, Jess Gonzalez (Edward James Olmos), is your average father who is forced to fight everyday troubles, following the death of his loving wife Berta (Sônia Braga). ... See full summary »
Stars: Kurt Caceres, Edward James Olmos, Patricia Velasquez, Parker Torres
Votes: 200
10. The Blues (2003)
770 min | Documentary, Music
A documentary series about the origin and history of The Blues.
Stars: B.B. King, Ike Turner, Pinetop Perkins, Dick Waterman
Votes: 1,251
11. Nightjohn (1996 TV Movie)
PG-13 | 92 min | Drama
Facing a life of servitude in the Antebellum South, a young slave named Sarny meets Nightjohn. He teaches her to read and write, and together they set to free other slaves - until one planned escape is discovered.
Director: Charles Burnett | Stars: Beau Bridges, Carl Lumbly, Bill Cobbs, Kathleen York
Votes: 440
12. Welcome Home Brother Charles (1975)
R | 91 min | Action, Drama, Horror
After being released, a wrongfully imprisoned black man exacts vengeance on those who've crossed him via the power of his newly sentient penis, which may or may not be the result of an experiment gone wrong.
Director: Jamaa Fanaka | Stars: Marlo Monte, Reatha Grey, Stan Kamber, Tiffany Peters
Votes: 786
13. Bless Their Little Hearts (1983)
80 min | Drama
A dramatic look into the life of a family in Watts.
Director: Billy Woodberry | Stars: Nate Hardman, Kaycee Moore, Angela Burnett, Ronald Burnett
Votes: 518
14. 42 One Dream Rush (2010)
42 min | Short, Fantasy
An omnibus of short films by auteur directors based on Dreams.
Directors: Kenneth Anger, Asia Argento, Tadanobu Asano, Sergei Bodrov, Charles Burnett, Brian Butler, Jonathan Caouette, Leos Carax, Niki Caro, Yung Chang, Michele Civetta, Larry Clark, Joe Coleman, Zachary Croitoroo, Abel Ferrara, Mike Figgis, James Franco, Chris Graham, Florian Habicht, Rinko Kikuchi, Terence Koh, Harmony Korine, Ye Lou, David Lynch, Griffin Marcus, Ryan McGinley, Rajan Mehta, Jonas Mekas, Chris Milk, Grant Morrison, Charlotte Kemp Muhl, Gaspar Noé, Dee Poon, Cat Power, Matt Pyke, Carlos Reygadas, Lola Schnabel, Floria Sigismondi, Mote Sinabel, Taika Waititi, Arden Wohl, Yuan Zhang | Stars: Kenneth Anger, Tadanobu Asano, Brian Butler, Helena Christensen
Votes: 537
15. This Is the Life (2008)
97 min | Documentary
A feature-length documentary that chronicles "The Good Life" emcees, the alternative music movement they developed, and their worldwide influence on the art form.
Director: Ava DuVernay | Stars: 2Mex, Chali 2na, Cut Chemist, Brian Cross
Votes: 298
16. Relative Stranger (2009 TV Movie)
G | 88 min | Drama
After the death of his father, a former football star reunites with the family that he abandoned years earlier.
Director: Charles Burnett | Stars: Eriq La Salle, Cicely Tyson, Michael Michele, Michael Beach
Votes: 190
17. These Amazing Shadows (2011)
Not Rated | 88 min | Documentary
Tells the history and importance of The National Film Registry, a roll call of American cinema treasures that reflects the diversity of film, and indeed the American experience itself.
Directors: Paul Mariano, Kurt Norton | Stars: Jeff Adachi, James H. Billington, Robin Blaetz, Brooks Boliek
Votes: 1,758
18. Finding Buck McHenry (2000 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, Family, Sport
When an 11 year old boy (Michael Schiffman) gets cut from his Little League baseball team, he sets out to form his own team. He persuades a school custodian (Ossie Davis) to be the coach. ... See full summary »
Director: Charles Burnett | Stars: Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Ernie Banks, Michael Schiffman
Votes: 285
19. A Different Image (1982)
51 min | Drama
A film that explores body image and societal beauty standards through the eyes of a young Black woman on a journey towards self-worth.
Director: Alile Sharon Larkin | Stars: Margòt Saxton-Federella, Adisa Anderson, Michael Bruce, Leslie Speights
Votes: 61
20. The Annihilation of Fish (1999)
R | 108 min | Romance
After years of living alone, an eccentric black and white couple find real companionship and romance.
Director: Charles Burnett | Stars: Lynn Redgrave, James Earl Jones, Margot Kidder, Tommy Redmond Hicks
Votes: 234
21. My Brother's Wedding (1983)
Not Rated | 115 min | Drama
A man who has struggled personally has conflicts with his upwardly mobile lawyer brother and well to-do fiancee and is reluctantly to be the best man at their wedding.
Director: Charles Burnett | Stars: Everett Silas, Jessie Holmes, Gaye Shannon-Burnett, Ronnie Bell
Votes: 1,073 | Gross: $0.01M
22. We Blew It (2017)
137 min | Documentary
How did America change from Easy Rider into Donald Trump? What became of the dreams and utopias of the 1960's and 1970's? What do the people who lived in that golden age think about it ... See full summary »
Director: Jean-Baptiste Thoret | Stars: Ronee Blakley, Peter Bogdanovich, Charles Burnett, Tobe Hooper
Votes: 209
23. Illusions (1982)
34 min | Drama, Short
An African American woman rises to prominence in a fictional movie studio in the 1940s by passing as a white woman, affording others some dignity in the business that frequently portrayed movies as an illusion of a purely "white world."
Director: Julie Dash | Stars: Lonette McKee, Rosanne Katon, Ned Bellamy, Jack Rader
Votes: 520
24. Bush Mama (1979)
97 min | Drama
It details the life of Dorothy who is a poor black woman. Her husband is put in jail for no observable reason and she is pregnant with a second child. The government threatens to take away her welfare if she does not get an abortion.
Director: Haile Gerima | Stars: Barbara O, Johnny Weathers, Susan Williams, Cora Lee Day
Votes: 269
25. On Story (2011– )
27 min | Talk-Show
A look inside the creative process of writers, creators and filmmakers.
Stars: Álvaro Rodríguez, Shane Black, Damon Lindelof, Scott Rosenberg
Votes: 56
26. Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation (2007)
161 min | Drama
The fight for Namibias liberation after the colonialisation and the genocide commited by Germany and Britain.
Director: Charles Burnett | Stars: Maria Abner, Paulina Akwene, Rod Alexander, Shoombe Amadhila
Votes: 107
27. Unsung Hollywood (2014–2018)
TV-PG | 60 min | Documentary, Biography, History
A series that profiles talented, influential black celebrities from Hollywood movies, television, comedy, and sports.
Stars: Gary Anthony Williams, Charnele Brown, Joe Torry, John Singleton
Votes: 99
28. Guests of Hotel Astoria (1989)
124 min | Drama
Tale of a group of Iranian families, fleeing from Iran to Turkey in order to seek asylum from Turkey to some Western European country or USA. The movie shows the hardship and very sad days ... See full summary »
Director: Reza Allamehzadeh | Stars: Shohreh Aghdashloo, Marshall Manesh, Mohsen Marzban, Alan Desatti
Votes: 92
29. The Horse (1973)
Not Rated | 14 min | Short, Drama
A young black boy tends to a horse while four white men wait for the kid's dad to euthanize the horse.
Director: Charles Burnett | Stars: Gordon Houston, Maury Wright, Gary Morrin, Roger Collins
Votes: 426
30. Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property (2003)
PG | 58 min | Documentary
The story and legacy of the enigmatic leader of the notorious 1831 homicidal slave revolt in Virginia, along with reviews of works about him, are explored; twentieth century civil rights discussed and cultural relativism mentioned.
Director: Charles Burnett | Stars: Herbert Aptheker, Ayuko Babu, Charles Burnett, Resharma Coleman
Votes: 186
31. Power to Heal: Medicare and the Civil Rights Revolution (2018 TV Movie)
56 min | Documentary
Documentary about how Medicare was formed as a way to desegregate American hospitals and enforce civil rights.
Director: Charles Burnett | Stars: Martin Dornbaum, Danny Glover
Votes: 20
32. Several Friends (1969)
Not Rated | 21 min | Short
An improvised late '60's short-subject student film, and debut movie of Director, Charles Burnett; done in the neo-realist, documentary film style. A day-in-the-life South Central L.A. tale... See full summary »
Director: Charles Burnett | Stars: Andy Burnett, Eugene Cherry, Charles Bracy, Cassandra Wright
Votes: 369
33. Sa-I-Gu (1993)
41 min | Documentary, Short
April 29 marks the 15th anniversary of a tragic day in American history. Violence, arson and looting erupted in South Central Los Angeles, sparked by the acquittal of the four policemen who... See full summary »
Directors: Dai Sil Kim-Gibson, Christine Choy | Stars: Christine Choy, Young Soon Han, Elaine Kim, Dai Sil Kim-Gibson
34. The Final Insult (1997)
55 min | Documentary, Drama
Part fiction, part documentary, Charles Burnett presents an unflinching look at homelessness in Los Angeles with empathy and concern.
Director: Charles Burnett | Stars: Ayuko Babu, Damien Ball, David Ball, Brad Bracy
Votes: 63
35. Passing Through (1977)
105 min | Drama, Music
A jazz musician joins a revolution upon his release from prison.
Director: Larry Clark | Stars: Nathaniel Taylor, Clarence Muse, Pamela Jones, Johnny Weathers
Votes: 90
36. Anemoia or Scenes from the Future
Short, Drama, Sci-Fi | Post-production
Director: Gianfranco Fernandez-Ruiz | Stars: Sara Seyed, Jonathan Medina, Bechir Sylvain, Diane Sargent
37. Steal Away (III)
Biography | Announced
It depicts the theft and escape of Robert Smalls who was a slave in 1862 Charleston, SC.
Director: Charles Burnett
38. The Actor's Choice (2015– )
Talk-Show
The Actor's Choice 9-19-2016 Darryl Maximilian Robinson and John Ruskin. Veteran Los Angeles-based stage actor and Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago founder Darryl Maximilian ... See full summary »
Stars: Ron Brewington, Ted Lange, Darryl Maximilian Robinson, Adilah Barnes
Votes: 15
39. Dark City: Interval_575 (2025)
90 min | Action, Thriller | Pre-production
University student Toivo returns home to the City to finish his bachelor's degree. Upon arrival, he meets with instant disaster when his breadwinner brother, Simon, is murdered right before... See full summary »
Directors: Charles Burnett, Cecil Moller | Star: Gustav Nuuyoma
40. Your Children Come Back to You (1979)
27 min | Short
A girl pines for her ancestor's homeland, but modern problems (neighborhood conditions, her aunt's stronger connection to colonizing culture, the absence of her father) illicit a dream so troubling she must run.
Director: Alile Sharon Larkin | Stars: Nashay Brady, Angela Burnett, Patricia Bentley King, Ella 'Sumi' Nelson
Votes: 17
41. Sisters in Cinema (2003)
57 min | Documentary
Director: Yvonne Welbon | Stars: Stephanie Allain, Madeline Anderson, Maya Angelou, Neema Barnette
Votes: 31
42. Spirits of Rebellion: Black Cinema at UCLA (2016)
100 min | Documentary
Chronicles the critically acclaimed yet relatively unknown black filmmakers and media artists collectively known as the Los Angeles Rebellion.
Director: Zeinabu irene Davis | Stars: Gay Abel-Bey, Shirikiana Aina, S. Torriano Berry, Carroll Parrott Blue
Votes: 8
43. After the LockDown: Black in LA (2021)
188 min | Documentary
Directors: Charles Burnett, Jonathan Burnett, Joy Shannon
44. The Pocketbook (1980)
13 min | Short, Drama
Adapted from the short story, "Thank You, Ma'am" by Langston Hughes, a young man questions his life choices after a botched purse-snatching.
Director: Billy Woodberry | Stars: Ray Cherry, David Jenkins, Ella 'Simi' Nelson, Christopher Thompson
Votes: 31
45. When It Rains (1995)
Not Rated | 13 min | Short, Drama, Music
A musician spends New Year's Day trying to help his friend pay the rent.
Director: Charles Burnett | Stars: Ayuko Babu, Florence Bracy, Kenny Merritt, Juno Lewis
Votes: 561
46. Cinetracts '20 (2020)
44 min | Documentary, Short, Drama
20 short films commissioned in 2019-20 by The Wexner Center, in line with the Cinétracts 1968 manifesto, reconsidering its concept to reflect on the pandemic and months of protest in response to police violence against the Black community.
Directors: Natalia Almada, Tony Buba, Charles Burnett, Tamer El Said, Akwaeke Emezi, Su Friedrich, Kelly Gallagher, Cameron Granger, Christopher Harris, Sky Hopinka, Bouchra Khalili, Rosine Mfetgo Mbakam
Votes: 12
47. Documenta X - Die Filme (1997)
Documentary
Directors: Charles Burnett, Harun Farocki, Antonia Lerch, Raoul Peck, Abderrahmane Sissako, Aleksandr Sokurov
Votes: 15
48. Represent (2016 Podcast Series)
Talk-Show
A space for discussion, highlighting movies, TV, and online shows created by and/or about women, people of color, people with disabilities, and those in the LGBTQ community.
Stars: Aisha Harris, Alex Jung, Jamelle Bouie, Marissa Marinelli
49. Quiet as Kept (2007)
Not Rated | 6 min | Short, Drama
A teenager boy leaves a moment of boredom while his father works on his old car, and the mother wishes to go out for a stroll around the block. One more relocated family post Hurricane Katrina.
Director: Charles Burnett | Stars: Nathaniel Lee Sr., Sharial C. Lee, Daniel Curtis Lee
Votes: 169
50. Dr. Endesha Ida Mae Holland (1998)
14 min | Documentary, Short
From prostitute to Ph.D., civil rights activist, playwright, and professor, the film chronicles in her own words, Dr. Holland's fight against racism and injustice.
Director: Charles Burnett | Star: Endesha Ida Mae Holland