Shoot the Messenger (Blu-ray)
Director: Ngozi Onwurah | Writer: Sharon Foster

After reading a report that Black pupils from inner city schools are being failed by the education system, IT consultant Joe Pascale (David Oyelowo, Selma) becomes a teacher at a secondary school in South London with the aim of challenging the system to break the biased culture. Joes use of discriminatory methods to ensure Black students are given extra tuition over their white counterparts and his outdated use of humiliation leads to rebellion among his pupils, one of whom falsely accuses him of assault.
Publicity and media attention follow Joe who finds himself branded a racist and it is only after a tumultuous journey of self-discovery that he comes to the understanding that race and cultural identity are merely a state of mind.

A true landmark in the history of Black British film, Shoot the Messenger is presented on Blu-ray for the very first time.

Extras

• Presented in High Definition
• Three short films by Ngozi Onwurah: The Body Beautiful (1990, 24 mins): an examination of the real-life relationship between the director and her mother, Madge; Flight of the Swan (1992, 12 mins): a young girl leaves her Nigerian village for the cold, harsh landscape of England and White Men are Cracking Up (1994, 20 mins); traces the last day in the life of a while detective, obsessed with a Black street goddess
• Who We Are: Filmmaker Forum with Akua Gyamfi, Fiona Lamptey, Stella Nwimo and Delia Ren (2020, 66 mins): four women creatives explore Black British film in a series curated by We Are Parable
• Illustrated booklet with new writing by Anglea Moneka, co-founder of the T A P E collective, Dwain Brandy, Ann Ogidi, Jan Asante and the BFIs Grace Barber-Plentie
• English subtitles for the deaf and partial hearing available on all three short films