On a recent, rainy evening in London, movie fans gathered at the British Film Institute theater for a much-anticipated premiere, though the film was made nearly 50 years ago: Horace Ové’s newly restored “Pressure,” considered the first feature by a Black British director.
Ové died last month, just weeks before his film was set to be celebrated internationally with screenings at both the London and New York Film Festivals.
Gradually radicalized by encounters with potential employers, a friend’s landlord and the police, Tony reaches a boiling point.
In an interview after the screening, Norville, who played Tony, described the film as “pulling no punches” in its depiction of the reality of Black life in London in the ’70s.
In an earlier Q. and A. with the audience, he had noted that the film’s themes of “institutional racism and police brutality” were still relevant in Britain today.
Persons:
Horace Ové’s, ”, Ové, Herbert Norville, Tony, West
Organizations:
British Film Institute, London and New York
Locations:
London, British, Britain