BFI Giving Menelik Shabazz’s Burning An Illusion A Blu-ray Release

Menelik Shabazz‘s pioneering first feature Burning An Illusion (1981) comes to Blu-ray. With simultaneous release on BFI Player Subscription, iTunes and Amazon Prime in September.

The film was marked  as a coming of age for Black British cinema. A film about transformation and identity, this sensitive and entertaining love story traces the emotional and political growth of a young Black couple in Thatcher’s London.  Check out this short clip from the film…

Pat (Cassie McFarlane), an ordinary London girl with a caring family, a job she enjoys and her own flat, seeks nothing more than to settle down to a life of married, middle-class conformity. Her cosy world is jolted when she meets Del (Victor Romero Evans), a charming and vaguely discontented toolmaker, who soon moves in but then loses his job, causing them both to challenge their assumptions about each other and their aspirations.

Special features

• Presented in High Definition
• Vintage commentary by Menelik Shabazz, Cassie McFarlane and Victor Romero Evans (2001)
• Introduction by Menelik Shabazz (2005, 10 mins): the director discusses the background to Burning an Illusion and Blood Ah Goh Run
• Cassie McFarlane Introduction (2022, 7 mins): the actor talks about her role and discusses the film’s production
• Blood Ah Goh Run (1982, 13 mins): a short documentary on the response to the New Cross fire of 1981 and the Black People’s Day of Action
• Step Forward Youth (1977, 29 mins): interviews with first-generation Black British youth on their attitudes to identity, family, police, race and fashion
• Original theatrical trailer
• Gallery
• Sleeve featuring original poster artwork by Anum Iyapo and Shakka Dedi

• ***First pressing only*** Illustrated booklet with a new essay by Alex Ramon, an article by Dr Clive Nwonka from Sight and Sound (March 2022), an interview with Menelik Shabazz from Monthly Film Bulletin (1988), a director biography, notes on the special features and credits

UK / 1981 / colour / 106 minutes / English language, with optional subtitles for the Deaf and partial hearing | original aspect ratio 1.66:1 // BD50: 1080p, 24fps, PCM 2.0 mono audio (48kHz/24-bit)

Menelik Shabazz‘s Burning An Illusion will be released by the BFI on Blu-ray, BFI Player Subscription, iTunes and Amazon Prime release on 19th September.