Horace Ové, regarded as the pioneer of black British film-making, died on Saturday at the age of 86, his son has announced.
Ové directed the first black British feature, Pressure, in 1976 and was also the first to document the arrival of reggae music to the UK with 1971’s Reggae.
Last year, he was knighted in the New Year’s honours for his contributions to British cinema and media.
Ové’s son Zak announced the news and said his father had Alzheimer’s for many years.
He wrote on his Facebook page: “Our loving father Horace took his last breath at 4.30 this morning, while sleeping peacefully.
“I hope his spirit is free now after many years of suffering with Alzheimer’s. You are forever missed, and forever loved. Rest in Peace Pops, and thank you for everything.”
Ové was born in Belmont in Trinidad and Tobago on 3 December 1936 to a multicultural family of African, Indian, French and Spanish heritage.
He began his film career by directing short films and documentaries that focused on West Indian immigrant life in Britain.
Other notable works included King Carnival, which told the story of the Trinidad carnival, and 1978’s Skateboard Kings, which chronicled the birth of the new sport.
Ové received a number of awards, including Trinidad and Tobago’s Hummingbird medal in 1992 and the British Independent Film Award’s special jury prize in 2018.
In 2012 the trinidad+tobago film festival honoured Ové as a film pioneer, and in 2013 he was named a national icon by the Trinidad and Tobago government.
The British Film Institute (BFI) paid tribute on X, formerly Twitter, writing: “We’re deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Sir Horace Ové. Photographer, painter, writer, and pioneering film-maker, Ové’s career spanned four decades and encompassed cutting-edge drama and documentary. He worked outside of the system, showing generations of black film-makers that it could be done, and that their voices have power. Our thoughts are with his friends and family at this time.”
Lennie James, an actor, director, screenwriter and playwright, wrote in the Guardian last year: “If Horace has a style, it would sit somewhere in the reportage school.
“He is a documentarian at his core. His camera rarely intrudes. He sets it up to bear witness. He wants his subjects to speak for themselves, to reveal the complexities of their lives. ‘I’m interested in people that are trapped,’ he once said. ‘The trap that we are all in and how we try to get out of it.’”
