note EN
19.09.2021
Kaycee Moore (1944-2021)

This summer, on 13 August, actress Kaycee Moore passed away at her home in Kansas City at the age of 77. Her acting debut came with Killer of Sheep (1978), Charles Burnett’s first feature and his thesis for the film program at the University of California, Los Angeles. This role and her next in Bless Their Little Hearts (Billy Woodberry, 1983) and Daughters of the Dust (Julie Dash, 1991) made her an iconic presence in the cinema of the so called L.A. Rebellion, a community of Black independent filmmakers in the United States. While Moore played only in a handful of films she nevertheless left a lasting impact with her nuanced acting and the grace she imbued her characters with, helping to create a dignified view of Black lives as opposed to an often racialized mainstream image.

Killer of Sheep (Charles Burnett, 1977)

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“This was also the case with Killer of Sheep: its objective was to change the perception of coloured people, in spite of what Hollywood had created, this myth, and to give voice to people who didn’t have access to Hollywood to tell their story. The film was made for multiple reasons: to demystify filmmaking in the community and to introduce filmmaking to kids, notably by having children work on the sound and on other technical aspects of the film. We wanted to show people who were interested in making a change in the community, to use film as a means for social change.”

Related Events

screening
To Sleep with Anger
Charles Burnett, 1990
Tue 27 Sep 2022, 20:30
KASKcinema, Ghent
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