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Talkhouse

Born in Mississippi and raised in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, Charles Burnett is an independent filmmaker whose work has been praised for its portrayal of the African-American experience. A 4K restoration of his first feature film, <a href="https://kinolorber.com/film/killer-of-sheep" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Killer of Sheep</a>, which Burnett wrote, directed, produced, photographed, and edited in 1977, is now in theaters through Kino Lorber. Since then, the United States Library of Congress has declared the film a &#8220;national treasure,&#8221; as one of the first 50 films on the National Film Registry, and the National Society of Film Critics selected it as one of the &#8220;100 Essential Films&#8221; of all time. His other films include The Glass Shield, a groundbreaking narrative on police corruption and violence, My Brother’s Wedding, To Sleep With Anger (starring Danny Glover), and his lost 1999 film, The Annihilation of Fish starring James Earl Jones and Lynn Redgrave, which was finally released in early 2025. Burnett’s nonfiction work includes The Blues, produced by Martin Scorsese, Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property, and the PBS documentary Power To Heal, on the painful history of segregation at southern U.S. Hospitals. (Photo courtesy Milestone Films and the Walker Art Center.)

Charles Burnett

Film

Three Great Things: Charles Burnett

Judy Greer is currently starring in Eric Larue, Michael Shannon’s directorial debut, also starring Alexander Skarsgård, Alison Pill and Tracy Letts, which is out now in theaters. Judy was most recently seen on television starring in Reboot, alongside Keegan Michael Key, Johnny Knoxville, and Paul Reiser, and in the HBO limited series White House Plumbers opposite Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux. Her additional feature credits include Halloween, Halloween Kills, Jurassic World, Ant-Man, 13 Going on 30, the Academy Award winning The Descendants directed by Alexander Payne, Richard Linklater’s Where’d You Go Bernadette opposite Cate Blanchett, and the cult classic hit Jawbreaker. She previously starred opposite Jim Carrey and Catherine Keener on Kidding, voiced the role of Cheryl on the Emmy-winning animated comedy Archer for 14 seasons and played Kitty Sanchez on Arrested Development, one of her most notable characters. In 2018, Judy made her feature film directorial debut with A Happening of Monumental Proportions, starring Common, Bradley Whiteford, Allison Janney, Jennifer Garner, Anders Holm, Katie Holmes, Rob Riggle and Storm Reid.

Judy Greer

Three Great Things: Judy Greer

Another Michael is an indie rock band from Philly. Their latest record, Wishes to Fulfill, is out now on Run For Cover. 
(Photo Credit: Juliette Boulay)

Another Michael

Music

Three Great Things: Another Michael

W. Kamau Bell’s new documentary <a href="https://www.hbo.com/movies/1000-me-growing-up-mixed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed</a> airs on HBO on May 2. He is a stand-up comedian and the director and executive producer of the four-part Showtime documentary, We Need To Talk About Cosby, which premiered at Sundance. He also hosts and executive-produces the Emmy Award winning CNN docu-series United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell. His new book, Do the Work: An Antiracist Activity Book, co-written with Kate Schatz, came out in 2022. His most recent stand-up comedy special, Private School Negro, is available on Netflix. Kamau’s first book has an easy-to-remember title, The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell: Tales of a 6&#8242; 4&#8243;, African American, Heterosexual, Cisgender, Left-Leaning, Asthmatic, Black and Proud Blerd, Mama&#8217;s Boy, Dad, and Stand-Up Comedian. He’s the ACLU Celebrity Ambassador for Racial Justice and serves on the board of directors of Donors Choose and the advisory board of Right To Be (formerly Hollaback!). (Photo by Aundre Larrow.)

W. Kamau Bell

Three Great Things: W. Kamau Bell

Jean-Pierre Dardenne was born in Engis, Belgium, in April 1951. Luc Dardenne was born in Awirs, Belgium, in March 1954. They have directed numerous documentaries. In 1975, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne created Dérives, the company that has produced more than 60 documentaries, including their own. In 1994, they created Les Films du Fleuve for the production of feature films. They are among the most acclaimed filmmakers of their time, and their work has received countless awards worldwide, including two Palme d’Ors (for Rosetta and The Child), and an Academy Award® nomination for Marion Cotillard’s performance in Two Days, One Night. Their latest film, <a href="https://www.janusfilms.com/films/2115" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tori and Lokita</a>, is out now in theaters through Janus Films. (Photo by Christine Plenus, courtesy Kino Lorber.)

Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

Three Great Things: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

Multi-award-winning actress Essie Davis currently stars in <a href="https://filmrise.com/film/the-justice-of-bunny-king" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Justice of Bunny King</a>, opposite Thomasin McKenzie, which is out now in theaters through FilmRise. She is best known for her acclaimed performance in The Babadook, her key role of Lady Crane in Game of Thrones and playing the title character in Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. She recently appeared in True History of the Kelly Gang alongside Russell Crowe and Nicholas Hoult, directed by her husband, Justin Kurzel, and her further film roles include Baz Luhrmann’s Australia, the Wachowskis’ The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, and Girl with a Pearl Earring. An established stage actress, in 2003, Davis won the Laurence Olivier Award for her performance in Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire at the National Theatre London and in 2004 she starred in a National Theatre, West End and Broadway production of Tom Stoppard’s Jumpers, for which she earned a Tony Award nomination. (Photo by Rachell Smith.)

Essie Davis

Three Great Things: Essie Davis

Courtney Parchman is an actor and digital comedian. She currently stars opposite Jacob Artist, Shakey Graves and Johanna Braddy in The Get Together, which is available on demand via Vertical Entertainment on May 14. She began her comedy Instagram account, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/averagefashionblogger/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@averagefashionblogger</a>, in 2018, and has since amassed over 300k followers. She has been featured in Buzzfeed, Teen Vogue and Her Campus.

Courtney Parchman

Three Great Things: Courtney Parchman

Charlie Shackleton is a London-based filmmaker and film critic. His new film, Zodiac Killer Project, premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the NEXT Innovator Award, and is <a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/zodiac-killer-project" target="_blank" rel="noopener">out now</a> on digital. His other recent projects include This Land, a radio documentary produced with Eleanor McDowall for Radio 4, and the short films Camera Test (King Cadbury) and Lateral. His previous work as a filmmaker includes the features <a href="http://charlielyne.com/beyondclueless">Beyond Clueless</a> (2014) and <a href="http://charlielyne.com/fearitself">Fear Itself</a> (2015), the shorts <a href="http://charlielyne.com/copycat">Copycat</a> (2015), <a href="http://charlielyne.com/blackout">Blackout</a> (2016) and <a href="http://charlielyne.com/fishstory">Fish Story</a> (2017), and the 10-hour protest film <a href="http://charlielyne.com/paintdrying">Paint Drying</a> (2016). Visit his <a href="https://charlie.film/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">personal website</a> for more info. (Photograph by <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charlie_Shackleton.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mia Mullarkey</a>.)

walking