Written and directed by Charles Burnett
 
Director Charles Burnett (Killer of Sheep, My Brother's Wedding, To Sleep with Anger) presents a tale about a young boy's encounter with his family in Mississippi in the 1950s, and intergenerational tensions between the heavenly strains of gospel and the devilish moans of the blues.

Says Burnett: "The sound of the blues was a part of my environment that I took for granted. However, as years passed, the blues slowly emerged as an essential source of imagery, humor, irony, and insight that allows one to reflect on the human condition. I always wanted to do a story on the blues that not only reflected its nature and its content, but also alludes to the form itself. In short, a story that gives you the impression of the blues."

Performances in Warming by the Devil's Fire
Big Bill Broonzy *
Elizabeth Cotten *
Reverend Gary Davis *
Ida Cox *
Willie Dixon *
Lightnin' Hopkins *
Son House *
Mississippi John Hurt *
Vasti Jackson
Bessie Smith *
Mamie Smith *
Victoria Spivey *
Sister Rosetta Tharpe *
Dinah Washington *
Muddy Waters *
Sonny Boy Williamson *

*indicates archival performance