With a screenplay written by Horace Ové and fellow Trinidadian author Sam Selvon, Pressure tells the story of Tony, a bright school-leaver and son of West Indian immigrants, who finds himself torn between his parents' church-going conformity and his brother's Black Power militancy.

A groundbreaking and authentic exploration of the anxieties of an emerging second-generation of West Indians in Britain, Pressure (1975) is a significant title in the history of British Cinema, and remains as relevant now as it ever was, with its themes of police corruption, discrimination and employment on an individual and institutional level.

Originally funded by the BFI Production Board and heralded as the first full-length Black British film, Horace Ové’s masterpiece Pressure has been restored by the BFI National Archive and The Film Foundation.

Extras

·    Restored in 4K by the BFI and The Film Foundation and presented in High Definition

·    Baldwin’s N****r (1969, 46 mins): Ové’s striking portrait of the writer James Baldwin at his sharp-witted best, addressing a group of West Indian students in 1960s London

·    Archive interview with Horace Ové

·    Stills gallery of Horace Ové’s photographic work

·    Includes optional English descriptive subtitles

·    **FIRST PRESSING ONLY** Illustrated booklet featuring new writing on the film

·    Other extras tbc

Reviews

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ‘Pressure still has enormous power’ The Guardian

‘The first tough, funny, shaming, shocking, ultimately against all the odds, optimistic, on-rush of that New Wave of British cinema’ The Times

‘Humane, heartfelt and humorous’ Daily Telegraph

Key Selling Points

·    Heralded as the first full-length Black British film

·    Worldwide debut on Blu-ray

·    Restored in 4K and had its joint world premiere at the 67th BFI London Film Festival and 61st New York Film Festival (2023)

·    Released theatrically by the BFI as part of the major retrospective Power to the People: Horace Ové’s Radical Vision