success. Burnett was honored by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival in 1997. In addition, Burnett was presented grants by the Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the J.P. Getty Foundation. The prestigious Howard University's Paul Robeson Award was given to Burnett for achievement in cinema. To honor his achievements, the mayor of Seattle declared February 20, 1997, Charles Burnett Day. In September 2017 it was announced that Burnett was to receive a Governors Award – known as an "honorary Oscar" – from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Recurring themes The recurring themes in Charles Burnett's work were primarily history's effect on the structure of family. He also strived to make films about working-class African-Americans that denounced stereotypes and clichés. Burnett has told critics that he makes films that deal with emotions coming out of real problems like maturity and self-identity. He also found a recurring theme in liberation and struggle perhaps after the influence from the UCLA's Third World Film Club that championed the revolutions occurring worldwide in the 1960s and 1970s. Other projects In 1999, Burnett directed a film called The Annihilation of Fish. The film is an interracial romance film starring James Earl Jones and Lynn Redgrave that won the Jury Award from the Newport Beach Film Festival in 2001, the Audience Award at the Sarasota Film Festival in 2001, and a Silver Award at WorldFest Houston in 2000. Burnett and two other directors, Barbara Martinez Jitner and Gregory Nava, directed the television series American Family. American Family was nominated for 2 Emmys and a Golden Globe Award and won many other awards. Burnett also acted in the documentary Pierre Rissient: Man of Cinema with Clint Eastwood. He is currently in pre-production on two films projects: The Emir Abd El-Kadir and 83 Days: The Murder of George Stinney. In January 2019, it was announced that Burnett would direct the film Steal Away, based on Robert Smalls's escape from slavery. Personal life Burnett is married to actress and costume designer Gaye Shannon-Burnett. They have two sons, Steven and Jonathan. Filmography Several Friends (short, 1969) The Horse (short, 1973) Killer of Sheep (1978) My Brother's Wedding (1983) Bless Their Little Hearts (1984) To Sleep with Anger (1990) America Becoming (TV documentary, 1991) The Glass Shield (1994) When It Rains (short, 1995) Nightjohn (television film, 1996)