In pictures: The Windrush generation and pioneering films about Caribbean immigrant life in Britain
On the 75th anniversary of HMT Windrush Empire arriving in Britain, discover these pioneering films grappling with the lives of the Caribbean community in the UK, from the Windrush era on.
Pool of London (1951): This realist thriller was one of the first British films to venture into racial politics, featuring Earl Cameron as an outcast who seeks love and solace away from the racial tensions of the docklands. Here he finds himself in the ruins of a bombed-out church.
Ten Bob in Winter (1963): This neat skit on class snobbery within the British Caribbean community was made by pioneering Jamaican actor-director Lloyd Reckord.
An early classic of black British cinema, it was one of the most notable shorts to come out of the BFI Experimental Film Fund.
Pressure (1976): Horace Ové’s drama about tensions between first and second generation West Indian immigrants in Notting Hill was the first British film with an all-black cast. It poses questions about the role of the post-Windrush generation in a multi-cultural Britain.
Caught up in a crime he did not commit, Anthony ‘Tony’ Watson (Herbert Norville) runs for his life as he is pursued by the Metropolitan Police. This image was also used for the Pressure poster.
Herbert Norville as Tony. Ové was also a photographer who previously documented the Black Power struggle in the UK. This photo of Tony at a Portobello Market depicts him struggling with life on the streets, alienated from opportunities his white friends take for granted.
Babylon (1980): Beefy (Trevor Laird), Spark (Brian Bovell) and Errol (David N. Haynes). Filmed on the streets on Deptford and Brixton, Franco Rossi’s film mirrored the social inequalities in Britain in the 1980s, becoming a cult hit at late shows and film theatres.
Blue (Brinsley Forde) in dismay as he holds a speaker from a sound system destroyed by supporters of the National Front.
Burning an Illusion (1981): Menelik Shabazz’s film was the second UK feature by a black director, this time focusing on a young woman’s love life in west London. Cassie McFarlane is the heart of the film and her character Pat undergoes a liberating voyage of discovery, but at a personal cost.
Pat (Cassie McFarlane) and Del (Victor Romero) in a photo booth.
Del and Pat chat in a restaurant. On the wall in the background is a photo gallery of soul artists, including Aretha Franklin.
Babymother (1998). This 1998 film was the first black British musical and is set within the Caribbean community in Harlesden, north-west London. Anita (Angela Lauren Smith) wants to become a professional reggae singer and performs with her friends, Sharon (Caroline Chikezie) and Yvette (Jocelyn Esien).
Anita with her husband Byron (Wil Johnson).
