Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £4.99 a month
Bushman
Neglected since its release in 1971, Bushman follows a Nigerian student in San Francisco but is interrupted by the arrest of its leading man.
Director: David Schickele
Overview
1968. Few Americans are aware of a civil war in Nigeria entering its second year. In San Francisco, Gabriel, a young Nigerian intellectual, observes the turbulence of the Civil Rights Movement as they wander the city’s streets. However, the film shifts dramatically when the director interrupts the narrative to announce that the actor playing Gabriel has been wrongfully arrested and imprisoned.
With a docu-fictional style that recalls Cassavetes’ Shadows, Bushman is a vibrant snapshot of racial politics and counterculture told from the incisive perspective of an individual treated as an outsider. Shot in 1968, but not completed until 1971, the film vividly captures a well-documented period of history, but with a specificity that complicates established narratives.
racism, sex references, nudity, child sex abuse references, strong language
Related
Desire: The Carl Craig Story Desire: The Carl Craig Story
Documentary 2024 91 mins Director: Jean-Cosme Delaloye
An intimate portrait of legendary techno producer, DJ and record label creator Carl Craig and an ode to his beloved city, Detroit.
Emotion Pictures: Yearning and Repressed Desire in Melodrama Emotion Pictures: Yearning and Repressed Desire in Melodrama
Short documentary 2025 19 mins Director: Maha Albadrawi and Henry Barnes
Writer Nadia M Oliva tracks the development of the melodrama genre and how it plays out across film, TV and online.
Frida Kahlo & Tina Modotti Frida Kahlo & Tina Modotti
Documentary 1983 30 mins Director: Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen
Immerse yourself in the work of Frida Kahlo and Tina Modotti - icons of the Mexican Renaissance.
Amy! Amy!
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1980 33 mins Director: Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen
Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen's essay film commemorating pilot Amy Johnson's pioneering solo flight to Australia in 1930.
Rhianna Dhillon's favourite Coming of Age films Rhianna Dhillon's favourite Coming of Age films
Short documentary 2025 11 mins Director: Maha Albadrawi and Henry Barnes
Rhianna Dhillon selects her favourite Coming of Age films available now on BFI Player.
How to Film... a Swimming Pool How to Film... a Swimming Pool
Short documentary 2025 17 mins
Cinema history demonstrates swimming pools are awash with symbolic possibility – artist Justin Anderson shares some tips on how to film them
Pharaoh Pharaoh
Historical drama 1965 146 mins Director: Jerzy Kawalerowicz
Dazzling epic, in which the young Pharaoh Ramses XIII clashes with Egypt's clergy over influence on the affairs of the state and its coffers.
Je t'aime, je t'aime Je t'aime, je t'aime
Drama 1968 95 mins Director: Alain Resnais
A mysterious time-travel experiment becomes a warped voyage through memory, in this mesmerising sci-fi from acclaimed director Alain Resnais.
Desire: The Carl Craig Story Desire: The Carl Craig Story
Documentary 2024 91 mins Director: Jean-Cosme Delaloye
An intimate portrait of legendary techno producer, DJ and record label creator Carl Craig and an ode to his beloved city, Detroit.
La Reine Margot La Reine Margot
Historical drama 1994 158 mins Director: Patrice Chéreau
Sumptuous historical drama starring Isabelle Adjani and Daniel Auteuil; a thunderous yarn full of dastardly plots, familial hatred and perverse desire
Scrubbers Scrubbers
Drama 1982 93 mins Director: Mai Zetterling
1980s borstal drama – billed as the female Scum – featuring Amanda York and Kathy Burke as inmates in a ruthless women’s prison.
Mona Lisa Mona Lisa
Gangster 1986 100 mins Director: Neil Jordan
An ungainly cockney chauffeur navigates the seedy streets of London, gradually falling for the elegant and mysterious prostitute who is his passenger.