Director Amma Asantebecame the first black director to open the London Film Festival this year with her film, A United Kingdom.
A child actor, Asante grew up on the set of popular British TV series Grange Hill, and after taking a break from acting in her late teens made the move to screenwriting and directing. Her first two films, A Way of Life and Belle, were well received - shehas numerous awards to prove it - and A United Kingdom is a solid addition to her growing body of work.
A United Kingdom is an earnest and intimate romantic drama and biopic, which also plays out as a political drama. It's based on the love story of black African king Seretse Khama (Oyelowo) and British white woman Ruth Williams (Pike), who meet and fall in love in London in 1947. Against the wishes of their family and their respective governments they marry, and Khama returns home to Bechuanaland (later Botswana) with his new wife to take up his role as the leader of the Bamangwato people.
Khama's choice of wife upsets his uncle and regent, creates a rift in the royal family thathas his people questioning if he is fit to rule. The British government, desperate to keep a budding apartheid South Africa on side, does itsbest to undermine the couple - going as far as to separate them for years at a time.
