Writing
Hanif Kureishi
Born December 5, 1954 · London, England, UK (age 71)
Hanif Kureishi CBE (born December 5, 1954) is an English playwright, screenwriter and filmmaker, novelist and short story writer. The themes of his work have touched on topics of race, nationalism, immigration, and sexuality. In 2008, The Times named Kureishi in their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
Known For
Intimacy · 2001Intimacy
★ 6.22001
MovieRomanceDrama
Failed musician Jay abandoned his family and now earns a living as head bartender in a trendy London pub. Every Wednesday afternoon, a woman comes to his house for graphic, almost wordless, sex. One day, Jay follows her and learns about her. This eventually disrupts their relationship.
The Mother · 2003The Mother
★ 6.02003
MovieDramaRomance
A grandmother has a passionate affair with a man half her age, who is also sleeping with her daughter.
Bowie: The Final Act · 2025Bowie: The Final Act
★ 7.92025
MovieDocumentaryMusic
The final creative chapter of one of music’s most iconic artists. Featuring rare interviews with those who knew and worked alongside Bowie as well as famous fans and figures who have been inspired by his artistry, the film will uncover the strategy behind Bowie’s artistic resurrection and the inexhaustible extraordinary creativity that defined his final decade, in which he released his critically acclaimed album Blackstar just two days before he died. This was an emergence from the turbulence of the 1990s, when Bowie had found himself at odds with a changing industry but pushed on to headline Glastonbury in 2000.
My Beautiful Laundrette · 1985My Beautiful Laundrette
★ 6.71985
MovieComedyDrama
A young Pakistani Briton manages a rundown laundrette with his lover while dealing with tension in his family, the local Pakistani community, and a persistent mob of skinheads.
Sammy and Rosie Get Laid · 1987Sammy and Rosie Get Laid
★ 5.71987
MovieDramaComedy
Sammy and Rosie are an unconventional middle-class London married couple. They live in the midst of inner-city chaos, surround themselves with intellectual street people, and sleep with everybody - except each other! Things become interesting when Sammy's father, Rafi, who is a former Indian government minister, comes to London for a visit. Sammy, Rosie, and Rafi try to find meaning through their lives and loves.
Le Week-End · 2013Le Week-End
★ 6.22013
MovieComedyDrama
Nick and Meg Burrows return to Paris, the city where they honeymooned, to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary and rediscover some romance in their long-lived marriage. The film follows the couple as long-established tensions in their marriage break out in humorous and often painful ways.
Andrew and Jeremy Get Married · 2005Andrew and Jeremy Get Married
★ 7.52005
MovieDocumentary
Director Don Boyd's portrayal of the extraordinary love story between a retired bus driver from Croydon and a retired teacher from Chelsea. One took to cruising public toilets and succumbed to drug addiction, crime and prison before personal rehabilitation. The other moved in a social sphere of dinner parties and T S Eliot readings at the seaside, yet had struggles of a different kind. (Storyville)
The Escort · 1999The Escort
★ 5.41999
MovieDrama
Fleeing from his wife in France to London, 45-year-old Pierre is barely able to support himself. He meets friendly Tom, who offers to help him make ends meet by working as a male escort.
Movies
Intimacy · 2001Intimacy
★ 6.22001
MovieRomanceDrama
Failed musician Jay abandoned his family and now earns a living as head bartender in a trendy London pub. Every Wednesday afternoon, a woman comes to his house for graphic, almost wordless, sex. One day, Jay follows her and learns about her. This eventually disrupts their relationship.
The Mother · 2003The Mother
★ 6.02003
MovieDramaRomance
A grandmother has a passionate affair with a man half her age, who is also sleeping with her daughter.
Bowie: The Final Act · 2025Bowie: The Final Act
★ 7.92025
MovieDocumentaryMusic
The final creative chapter of one of music’s most iconic artists. Featuring rare interviews with those who knew and worked alongside Bowie as well as famous fans and figures who have been inspired by his artistry, the film will uncover the strategy behind Bowie’s artistic resurrection and the inexhaustible extraordinary creativity that defined his final decade, in which he released his critically acclaimed album Blackstar just two days before he died. This was an emergence from the turbulence of the 1990s, when Bowie had found himself at odds with a changing industry but pushed on to headline Glastonbury in 2000.
My Beautiful Laundrette · 1985My Beautiful Laundrette
★ 6.71985
MovieComedyDrama
A young Pakistani Briton manages a rundown laundrette with his lover while dealing with tension in his family, the local Pakistani community, and a persistent mob of skinheads.
Sammy and Rosie Get Laid · 1987Sammy and Rosie Get Laid
★ 5.71987
MovieDramaComedy
Sammy and Rosie are an unconventional middle-class London married couple. They live in the midst of inner-city chaos, surround themselves with intellectual street people, and sleep with everybody - except each other! Things become interesting when Sammy's father, Rafi, who is a former Indian government minister, comes to London for a visit. Sammy, Rosie, and Rafi try to find meaning through their lives and loves.
Le Week-End · 2013Le Week-End
★ 6.22013
MovieComedyDrama
Nick and Meg Burrows return to Paris, the city where they honeymooned, to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary and rediscover some romance in their long-lived marriage. The film follows the couple as long-established tensions in their marriage break out in humorous and often painful ways.
Andrew and Jeremy Get Married · 2005Andrew and Jeremy Get Married
★ 7.52005
MovieDocumentary
Director Don Boyd's portrayal of the extraordinary love story between a retired bus driver from Croydon and a retired teacher from Chelsea. One took to cruising public toilets and succumbed to drug addiction, crime and prison before personal rehabilitation. The other moved in a social sphere of dinner parties and T S Eliot readings at the seaside, yet had struggles of a different kind. (Storyville)
The Escort · 1999The Escort
★ 5.41999
MovieDrama
Fleeing from his wife in France to London, 45-year-old Pierre is barely able to support himself. He meets friendly Tom, who offers to help him make ends meet by working as a male escort.
Venus · 2006Venus
★ 6.62006
MovieComedyDrama
Maurice is an aging veteran actor who becomes taken with Jessie, the grandniece of his closest friend. When Maurice tries to soften the petulant and provincial young girl with the benefit of his wisdom and London culture, their give-and-take surprises both Maurice and Jessie as they discover what they don't know about themselves.
My Beautiful Laundrette · 2020My Beautiful Laundrette
2020
Movie
Set in London during the Thatcher years, My Beautiful Laundrette tells the story of young British Pakistani, Omar, who transforms his Uncle’s run-down laundrette into a thriving business. After being confronted by a fascist gang, Omar recognises school friend Johnny and uses their history to diffuse the situation. As they renovate the laundrette together, love blossoms between them.
My Son the Fanatic · 1997My Son the Fanatic
★ 5.11997
MovieDramaComedy
Pakistani taxi-driver Parvez and prostitute Bettina find themselves trapped in the middle when Islamic fundamentalists decide to clean up their local town.
Heavy Rain · 2010Heavy Rain
★ 5.52010
MovieDocumentary
A powerful short documentary inspired by the launch of the genre breaking PlayStation 3 title HEAVY RAIN.
Directed by the acclaimed filmmaker Neil LaBute, the seven minute short was filmed in London, LA & Paris and asks leading luminaries, 'How far would you go to save someone you love?'
London Kills Me · 1991London Kills Me
★ 5.91991
MovieComedyDrama
For want of a nail a shoe was lost, for want of a shoe... a young man's life is almost lost, which is exactly what this film is all about: a man barely twenty who wants desperately to pull out of London's drug world by taking a job as a waiter in a 'normal' restaurant. But to do this he must come up with a "sensible" pair of shoes, an item that his homeless meanderings hasn't provided him.
In My Own Words: Hanif Kureishi · 2024In My Own Words: Hanif Kureishi
2024
MovieDocumentary
Using a trove of archive photographs and film, Kureishi reflects on his father’s experiences as an immigrant in the post-war years, his own youth and entry into the world of theatre, the tumult around the publication of The Satanic Verses and its continued reverberations, and how he has transformed the life around him into a work of art.
David Bowie Is Happening Now · 2013David Bowie Is Happening Now
★ 6.02013
MovieDocumentary
Directed by BAFTA Award winner Hamish Hamilton, the movie was filmed during the closing night of the V&A installation and features appearances by Pulp leader Jarvis Cocker, fashion designer Kansai Yamamoto, and more, as well as insight from David Bowie Is curators Victoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh.
Hanif Kureishi Interview · 2015Hanif Kureishi Interview
2015
MovieDocumentary
This interview filmed in 2015 for Criterion, and has the writer talk about his life in London, the role Margaret Thatcher played in this screenplay, casting the actors, and working on the film My Beautiful Laundrette.
Peter Sellers: A State of Comic Ecstasy · 2020Peter Sellers: A State of Comic Ecstasy
★ 8.02020
MovieDocumentary
The comedy pioneer behind the Goon Show, Dr Strangelove and the Pink Panther series is explored in depth in this film, surveying his meteoric rise to fame and troubled personal life.
Black and White in Colour · 1992Black and White in Colour
★ 10.01992
MovieDocumentary
A two part documentary that details the contribution of black and Asian people to television history from the birth of television in 1936 to 1992. Interviewees include: Pearl Connor, Thomas Baptiste, Lenny Henry, Norman Beaton, Horace Ové, Carmen Munroe, and Stuart Hall.
TV Shows
Remembers… · 2022Remembers…
★ 7.02022
SeriesDocumentary
What are the secrets of our favourite TV shows? Famous names from both sides of the camera reflect on making some of the most popular and influential programs of all time.
The Buddha of Suburbia · 1993The Buddha of Suburbia
★ 5.91993
SeriesComedyDrama
Karim is 17 years old and lives in a South London suburb with his English mother and Pakistani father, who has become a kind of spiritual guru to his middle-class neighbours. Karim wants to explore his cultural roots, in the hope that he will achieve sexual and racial self-realisation.
Reel Britannia · 2022Reel Britannia
★ 8.52022
SeriesDocumentary
Comedian Nick Helm narrates this bold new documentary series exploring the dramatic history of British cinema. Discover how cinema held a mirror up to society from 1960 through to the 00s.
In My Own Words · 2024In My Own Words
2024
SeriesDocumentary
Get up close to artists, writers, actors, comedians and poets – and discover both what fires their imaginations and the forces that have shaped their extraordinary lives.