Film
Crossing Borders: Migration Cinema

Classics: My Beautiful Laundrette - 40th Anniversary

What's on

Country

Groot-Brittanië

Year

1985

Language

English spoken, Dutch subtitles

Director

Stephen Frears

Duration

97 min

A sharp and intimate look at multicultural London in the 1980s. At a time of political tension over migration, an unexpected romantic relationship unfolds in a laundrette.

In Stephen Frears' iconic film, we follow young Omar, a British-Pakistani man, who, with the help of his former school friend and skinhead Johnny, breathes new life into a run-down laundrette. As Omar balances the expectations of his traditional family with his own ambitions, an unexpected romantic relationship with Johnny unfolds. Together, they try to find a place in a society that offers them little space — as migrants, as unemployed people, as outsiders.

A film about love, identity and resilience, which has lost none of its power today.