Pressure (15)

With a screenplay written by Horace Ové and fellow Trinidadian author Sam Selvon, Pressure follows a Black family in west London; from the parents who came from Trinidad as part of the Windrush generation with their first son, now part of the Black Power Movement, to their younger British-born son Tony, who is trying to find his place between the two cultures.

After leaving school and encountering prejudice on individual and institutional levels, Tony struggles to find acceptance in the country he grew up in - yet has no Caribbean home he can dream of returning to. Unemployed and caught between an aspirational mother and a radical older brother, he drifts away from old friends and towards Black Power politics.

A groundbreaking and authentic exploration of the anxieties of an emerging second-generation of West Indians in Britain, Pressure was the first full-length Black British film. More than 50 years after its release, its themes of social, employment and policing discrimination remain strikingly relevant.

This screening is part of Rip It Up – a nationwide season celebrating the changing face of youth rebellion, culture and expression on screen in the UK. Supported by Film Hub North as part of the BFI Film Audience Network, made possible by the National Lottery.