'A United Kingdom' opens the 60th BFI London Film Festival

06 Oct 2016

5 mins
'A United Kingdom' opens the 60th BFI London Film Festival

This year's 60th BFI London Film Festival opened in fine fashion this week with an opening gala screening of Amma Asante's inspiring new drama, A United Kingdom.

Set during the post-war period of the British Empire in Africa, A United Kingdom tells the remarkable true-life story of Seretse Khama, the King of Bechuanaland (modern Botswana) and Ruth Williams, a London office worker, whose love triumphed over oppression and intolerance to lay the foundations for one of Africa's most peaceful and prosperous countries.

In order to celebrate this special event, we caught up with David Oyelowo on the red carpet (see video above), and sat down with both David and his co-star Rosamund Pike, to discuss everything from the importance of stories about diversity - particularly in the current political climate - to the incredible real-life relationship that the film is based on, and the inspirational influence those historical figures had on the world. Check out the fantastic interview at the bottom of this page.

A United Kingdom at the Into Film Festival

As well as opening this year's London Film Festival, we're delighted to have A United Kingdom also feature in our own Into Film Festival, taking place across the UK between 9-25 November. Part of our See It, Be It strand, there will opportunities to see A United Kingdom in London, Belfast, Cardiff and Glasgow.

A United Kingdom: The Power of Unity resource

To further support this fantastic new British drama as part of our Diversity theme, we've also created - with the support of National Schools Partnership and Pathé - a brand new educational resource to help young people aged 11-18 discover the power that unity has to transform societies and shape British values. Download this great new resource below.

A United Kingdom Interviews: David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike 

Explore the themes of the film further with our Into Film Recommends podcast below, or log in to SoundCloud to download the podcast and listen on the go.

The Into Film Recommends Podcast Series is also available on iTunes.

Into Film Clubs

Into Film Clubs

Find out everything you need to know about starting an Into Film Club.

News details

Want to write for us?

Get in touch with your article ideas for the News and Views section.