Born in Trinidad in 1936, Ové moved to London in 1960 to study interior design. He worked as an extra on Joseph Mankiewicz’s CLEOPATRA (1963) and was exposed to the work of Federico Fellini and Vittorio De Sica, who would become influences. After returning to Britain in 1965, he covered social and political events whilst being a student at the London Film School.
During the 1960s and 1970s he was one of the foremost chroniclers of the Black Power movement and counterculture in London, with portraits of Michael X, Stokely Carmichael, Darcus Howe, John Lennon, Yoko Ono and the Caribbean Artists Movement, and the nascent Notting Hill Carnival. Pressure (1976) is heralded as the first full-length black British film, and an exploration of the concerns faced by second-generation West Indians in Britain.
Ové's work is the subject of an upcoming major BFI Southbank retrospective season titled Power to the People: Horace Ové’s Radical Vision. A 4K restored version of Pressure will have a joint restoration world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival and the New York Film Festival on Oct. 11. This precedes the film’s U.K.-wide cinema release by BFI Distribution and on BFI Player in November this year.
The U.K.’s Film and TV Charity has a £50,000 ($62,000) Horace Ové Grant to help the black and global majority of people working behind the scenes in film, TV and cinema to access opportunity and navigate barriers to career progression. Ové’s work has inspired a generation of diverse black British filmmakers and artists, including Menelik Shabazz, John Akomfrah, Isaac Julien, Julien Henriques, Ngozi Onwurah, Steve McQueen, Amma Asante, Raine Allen-Mille and Dionne Edwards. Ové was knighted in 2022 for his services to British cinema and media.
In his own words
On Pressure and A Hole in Babylon: “I wanted to show that black people were fighting for their rights under a very racist situation and...were finding ways and means of demonstrating their feelings."
On receipt of his knighthood: “I’m greatly honoured to receive this recognition for my work: “Chronicling the lives, battles, art and culture of the African and Caribbean diaspora in Britain and around the world has been a lifelong journey and passion. This award is testament to how far we have come and, in many respects, how far we still have to go. One love.”
Further Materials
Trailer for PRESSURE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x61G0yGzyRw
Inerview: Horace Ové: A Life Behind the Camera, an interview by Galeforce TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqSVGSUC5CI&t=11s
Articles
- https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/features/black-film-bulletin-zak-ove-horace-ove
- https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/sir-horace-ove-restoration-pressure-bfi-southbank-season
- https://artscouncilcollection.org.uk/explore/artist/ove-cbe-horace
Website: https://www.horaceove.com/
Images: still and film poster from PRESSURE