Charles Burnett’s first 16mm student film, Several Friends, showcases his early facility with a documentary approach to fiction, his ability to draw out eccentric and endearing characterizations from an ensemble of nonprofessional actors, and his sensitivity to the expressive possibilities of everyday, working class props and locations.

“In this haunting coming-of-age tale that its director Charles Burnett has described as a “kind of allegory of the South,” an African American boy gently tends to a horse that is to be shot as a group of white men passively look on. Burnett artfully employs a sparse lyricism, juxtaposing the stillness of the rural setting against the disquiet imbued by the impending violence.” (Mark Quigley)

On a New Year's Day mission to save a mother and daughter from eviction, a self-designated “urban griot” sets out on a citywide quest for money. His search turns into a superbly comical, outrageous expedition in the course of which he encounters a good Samaritan, a would-be enforcer, a mute ex-Black Panther, an angry shrew and, finally, great jazz. Critic Jonathan Rosenbaum chose this short as one of the “Ten Best Films of All Time” calling it “a near miracle!”.