Frances-Anne Solomon’s award-winning film Hero – The Extraordinary Life of Mr Ulric Cross is being shown on BBC Two at 23.45 on Wednesday 21 June – the eve of Windrush Day 2023.
Starring Nickolai Salcedo in the title role, Hero tells the fascinating story of how the “young, adventurous and idealistic” Ulric Cross left Trinidad to join the Bomber Command of the Royal Air Force, where he reached the rank of Squadron Leader. His exceptional abilities and courage gained him both the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Distinguished Service Order.
After studying Law in London, he worked as a lecturer in Trinidad and as a BBC broadcaster in the UK, before lending his formidable talents to the newly independent nations of Africa, working as a top legal adviser in Ghana, Cameroon and Tanzania. The film highlights how exciting, uncertain, energising and downright dangerous it was to be an intelligent, idealistic champion of Black empowerment and unity in Africa in that period.
Cross returned to Trinidad & Tobago and became a High Court judge and was T&T High Commissioner in London from 1990 to 1993… among many other things.
Solomon’s film does full justice to this “extraordinary life” and is thoroughly recommended. If you can’t catch it on first broadcast, Hero will be available on the BBC Two iPlayer – https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001n4rs. The film is also available on Amazon Prime.
