MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE

Omar (Gordon Warnecke), is a second-generation Pakistani immigrant living in South London with a bedridden and alcoholic father, Hussein (Roshan Seth). Tired of his son’s aimless existence of house chores and caretaking, Hussein persuades his brother, the flourishing businessman Nasser (Saeed Jaffrey), to take Omar under his wing. Tasked with running his uncle’s neglected laundrette, Omar reconnects with an old friend, the seemingly hard-edged Johnny (Daniel Day-Lewis). When Omar hires the white street punk to assist in renovating the business, a forbidden love is renewed between the two men.

With a script by writer Hanif Kureishi that weaves comedy, romance and drama into a reflection of the cultural climate of racial tension, homophobia, economic disparity and Thatcherism of 1980s London, Stephen Frears’s My Beautiful Laundrette remains a fresh and beloved pillar of British cinema.

Actor Gordon Warnecke will join us to reflect on his first film role, the youthful production which initially began as a made-for-TV film and the lasting impact of this layered film.