Horace Ové

Pressure / Baldwins Nigger Horace Ové

Two films from director Horace Ové. 'Pressure' (1975) is widely seen as Britain's first black feature. Set in 1970s London, it follows the daily struggle of young black British youths in an uncaring society.

Tony (Herbert Norville), the son of West Indian immigrants, is torn between his parent's upstanding, church-going ways, and the Black Power militancy of his elder brother. When he struggles to find a job because of his colour, Tony gradually begins to fall in with his brother's friends, who are building their own identity in the streets. 'Baldwin's Nigger' (1969) is a documentary portrait of the writer James Baldwin during his 1969 visit to the UK.

Confronting students and discussing the difference between the American and the British black experience, Ové produces a detailed portrait of one of America's most powerful novelists.