Later this week, my friend and mentor Horace Ové will head to Buck House to be made a knight of the British empire. Those of us who know Horace rejoice at this richly deserved honour. We are also amused by the deep irony. For the very empire that will anoint him is the same one that Horace – throughout his six-decade career as a pioneering film-maker, writer, painter and photographer – has held a mirror to and been a fierce critic of. It is all so very Horace.
Known as the godfather of black British film-making, having directed the first black British feature – Pressure – in 1976, Horace was also the first to document the arrival (and importance) of reggae to the UK with 1971’s Reggae. Shortly after, King Carnival told the story of the Trinidad carnival, while 1978’s Skateboard Kings chronicled the birth of the new sport.
