My Beautiful Launderette – 40th Anniversary

This year marks the 40th anniversary of one of the biggest British films of the 1980s. Unexpected hit My Beautiful Launderette, which helped to launch both the careers of its star Daniel Day Lewis and director Stephen Frears, tells the love story of young Pakistani man Omar and his childhood friend turned lover, white ex-skinhead Johnny. Set against the backdrop of racism, homophobia and Thatcherism, the film charts the pair’s attempts to renovate a South London launderette.