A Wakeful Vigil: Profile of Shannon Te Ao
By Megan Dunn
Portrait of SHANNON TE AO. Photo by Jane Wilcox. Courtesy the artist.
In 1978, graduate student Charles Burnett produced Killer of Sheep for his thesis, salvaging the black-and-white film stock from the “short ends” discarded by production houses. Set in Burnett’s Watts neighborhood, it tells the story of Stan, a slaughterhouse worker, and his unraveling relationship with his wife. In one scene, Stan and his unnamed wife dance to Dinah Washington’s This Bitter Earth. Decades later, Burnett had to acquire rights for the film’s soundtrack after the film had become a classic of black independent cinema.
