Picture of the movie The Killing Floor © Made in U.S.A. Productions, Inc.
The Killing Floor in restored version, Cannes Classics pays tribute to Bill Duke
Cannes Classics pays tribute today to Bill Duke, in Cannes Competition thirty years ago with A Rage in Harlem. This great actor known for his heavy-handed roles directed his first film in 1984, The Killing Floor, presented in its restored version by Elsa Rassbach, the film's co-scriptwriter and producer.
1917. During the First World War, in the United States, the labour market opens up in the North. An African-American worker leaves his family and heads for Chicago to work in a gigantic slaughterhouse. There, against a background of ethnic tensions, he tries to found an interracial workers' union.
Inspired by real events, The Killing Floor dissects the racial conflicts of the early 20th century so well that it becomes a quasi-historical object, supported by meticulous preparatory work with historians and based on archives. The film sheds light on the racial and social issues that were the starting point for the Chicago riots of 1919, one of the most violent in American history.
A presentation by Made in U.S.A. Productions, Inc. 4K scan of the original 16mm negative (stored at Archive's Sundance Institute Collection) by UCLA Film & Television Archive under the supervision of executive producer and co-writer Elsa Rassbach. Followed by 4K restoration (colour grading by Alpha-Omega digital in Munich and Planesol post-production in Berlin) by Made in U.S.A. Productions. Vintage mono mix digitally restored by Deluxe Entertainment Services Group DESG from the original magnetic. The film was restored in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Chicago race riots in 2019.
