Bill duke s directorial debut is ripe for the classroom tv wheel in late in the semester.
The killing floor bill duke.
With damien leake alfre woodard dennis farina ernest rayford.
Directed by bill duke.
Duke directed the tv movie the killing floor in 1984.
While it lacks an aesthetic sheen it has a very important point of view.
But tension mounts between the blacks and whites and a violent confrontation erupts turning the streets of chicago into the ultimate killing floor bill duke s hard hitting docudrama produced for pbs s american playhouse mixes documentary footage with a dramatization of the events leading up to the riots to powerful effect.
He becomes prominent as a leader of fellow african americans in the union though many including his best friend view him as a sell out.
The movie according to press notes tells the story of black and white slaughterhouse workers who attempted to build an interracial union in the chicago stockyards.
During world war i a poor black southerner travels north to chicago to get work in the city s slaughterhouses where he becomes embroiled in the organized labor movement.
9 he also directed the cemetery club 1993 and sister act 2.
Duke made the killing floor for pbs and it definitely has a tv movie feel and approach to narration.
The killing floor a feature length film directed by bill duke premiered in 1984 on pbs american playhouse series and then went on to engage audiences at the cannes and sundance film festivals.
Director bill duke cast damien leake alfre woodard clemence felder moses gunn screenplay leslie lee cinematography william birch 1984 united states approx.
Bill duke s first feature the killing floor from 1984 a digital release from film forum displays an ingenious approach to the matter bringing a straightforward story and a distinct.
He began directing theatrical films in the 1990s with crime dramas a rage in harlem 1991 deep cover 1992 and hoodlum 1997.
Back in the habit 1993 starring whoopi goldberg.
The killing floor is a 1984 american award winning made for television drama film directed by bill duke which highlights the plights of workers fighting to build an interracial labor union in the meatpacking industry in the years leading up to the chicago race riot of 1919 the film debuted on pbs via the american playhouse series on april 10 1984 and was produced by public forum productions.
That meaningful movements require all races to come together but the group in power white americans will forget that unity once.
The killing floor re released.
