We’re delighted to be screening A United Kingdom, the new film from British director Amma Asante (director of the acclaimed Belle and A Way of Life) which is also set to open this year’s BFI London Film Festival.
Similarly to Belle, it portrays an interracial relationship (though romantic rather than familial) that challenged the social mores of its time.
In 1947, King of Bechuanaland (modern Botswana) Seretse Khama (David Oyelowo) falls in love with London office worker Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike). Their controversial union generates fierce opposition not just from their families, but also the British and South African governments. But Seretse and Ruth defy family, apartheid and Empire to stay together, while working to transform one of Africa’s poorest countries into one of its most prosperous.
A United Kingdom capitalises on the intersect between a particular story and its universal affect – via the simple fact that racial barriers are no match for profound love or intimacy – while exploring a complex and painful chapter in Britain’s social history.
