From the grey drizzly streets of postwar London to the red clay roads and grand vistas of what is now Botswana, then Bechuanaland, the poorest country in Africa, this film blends an against-the-odds love story with real colonial politics. Its the true story (barring a little tweaking) of the love affair and marriage of the young King of Bechuanaland, Seretse Khama (David Oyelowo), in England to study law,and Englishwoman Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike), at a time before even the Windrush arrivals when mixed marriage in the UK was verging on the scandalous. Black faces were not often seen here, nor, more importantly for the story perhaps, were white wives seen with black husbands in Africa, particularly when that African was king of his country. Taking his bride back to the villages of his homeland where he is about to take up the reins of kingship, Seretse incurs all-out opposition from his uncle, the regent, resulting in a dangerous split among the population.
Permanent Collection
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