The Film Programme

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The latest releases, the hottest stars and the leading directors, plus news and insights

The latest releases, the hottest stars and the leading directors, plus news and insights from the film world

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The Film Programme: Francis Lee on My Beautiful Laundrette

Francis Lee on My Beautiful Laundrette

BBC Radio 4 - The Film Programme, Francis Lee on My Beautiful Laundrette

Francine Stock talks to director Francis Lee about My Beautiful Laundrette

Francine Stock discusses the 1985 film My Beautiful Laundrette with director Francis Lee and the lasting impression it made on him.

My Beautiful Laundrette, written by Hanif Kureishi and directed by Stephen Frears, was one of the early films produced for Channel 4. First screened in 1985, it tells the story of a  young British Pakistani, Omar, played by Gordon Warnecke, who is given a failing laundrette to run by his entrepreneurial uncle. Omar recruits an old school friend Johnny (Daniel Day-Lewis) to help him turn the business round and a gay relationship between them develops. Francis Lee, director of God's Own Country and Ammonite, tells Francine Stock about the impact it had on him as young gay man, the sexual and social issues in the film and his own encounter with Stephen Frears.
Producer:  Harry Parker

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