The Grand Illusion

In 1983, after many long months of shooting, Charles Burnett sent a rough-cut of MY BROTHER'S WEDDING, his follow-up to the acclaimed KILLER OF SHEEP, to his producers. Ignoring his request to finish the editing of the film, the producers rushed it to a New York festival screening, where it received a mixed review from the New York Times. With distributors scared off, the film was largely forgotten. But when Milestone Films acquired the rights almost 25 years later, Burnett's one request was a chance to complete his film the way he had originally intended, resulting in the belated realization of a nearly-lost work of art.

Pierce Mundy works at his parents’ South Central dry cleaners with no prospects for the future and his childhood buddies in prison or dead. With his best friend just getting out of jail and his brother busy planning a wedding to a snooty upper-middle-class Black woman, Pierce navigates his conflicting obligations while trying to figure out what he really wants in life.

“Burnett fills the film with voices and memories, humor and rage; his vision of neighborhood life has an ample, passionate generosity. The drama of unresolved frustrations and stifled dreams is propelled by a sense of history looming just below the surface.” Richard Brody, The New Yorker

“A beautiful, detailed view of Black life happening… It’s heartfelt and has a timeless quality that is magnified by Charles Burnett’s poetic storytelling.” Channing Godfrey Peoples, director of Miss Juneteenth