Competition-winning trailer unveiled for Sir Horace Ové’s trail-blazing film Pressure

The BFI and Intermission Film are delighted to announce the winner of their trailer competition to find and develop emerging editing talent, by creating a new trailer for the upcoming BFI re-release for Sir Horace Ové’s pioneering debut feature, Pressure (1975). 

Unveiled for the first time today, Damla Duru’s winning trailer was chosen from 56 entrants who submitted a 30-90 second trailer to be used by BFI Distribution for Pressure’s UK-wide cinema re-release on 3 November. Three shortlisted finalists, Damla Duru, Chris Pullen and Joseph Cook, chosen by Horace Ové’s family, Intermission Film and the BFI, were offered free in-house mentoring and training with Intermission’s award-winning editorial and production team to craft and polish their trailer edits, alongside a bursary of £500 before the overall winning entry was chosen. 

Originally funded by the BFI Production Board and heralded as the first full-length Black British film, Pressure has been newly restored by the BFI National Archive and The Film Foundation, with funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation, with additional thanks to the BFI Philanthropy ‘Pioneers of Black British Filmmaking consortium. The film receives a joint restoration world premiere on 11 October at the 67th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express at BFI Southbank and as a Revivals selection at the 61st New York Film Festival. 

Damla Duru, the competition winner, receives an additional £500 and this week has started a fixed-term position with Intermission Film to work on future projects and develop her skills and experience to further her editing career. BFI and Intermission Film would like to thank the Ové family for their generous feedback and continued support, as well as sector partners BIFA, The Kusp and Ghetto Film School who helped seek out new creative talent through their networks. A big thanks also to Ninja Tune Production Music who kindly provided music tracks to use for the competition.

“Being shortlisted for the competition and being mentored by an editor at Intermission was such a special experience,” Duru says. “I felt like I finally had the chance to learn about the industry I’ve been trying to break into for years. It also felt quite surreal to work on a film which has such an existing legacy. Pressure is important to so many people and I feel privileged to have been able to work with the BFI and Intermission in bringing this film back to the big screen.”