Tim Roth's debut and Daniel Day-Lewis's exceptional role in the ‘Mind the gap’ section

The Mind the Gap section will showcase films of typical British social realism cinema - both historically (from the New Wave tradition of 1950s and 1960s Free Cinema and Angry Young Man Cinema, through the 1980s and 1990s and 2000s), as well as contemporary examples of the trend's representation.

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These are films that comment on the past and present political and social situation of people living in the UK, and the Muza Cinema will be showing such films as: “My Beautiful Laundrette”, directed by Stephen Frears in 1985 and featuring one of the first roles for Daniel Day-Lewis, or Alan Clarke's “Made in Britain”, with teenage debutante Tim Roth in the role of a violent skinhead.

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As Konrad J. Zarębski writes about “My Beautiful Laundrette” for sfp.org.pl:

London-based Papa, once a Pakistani writer, descends into alcoholism after the death of his wife. He asks his brother Nasser, who rules the Pakistani underworld, to find a job for his son Omar. Among several offers, Omar accepts the position of manager of a self-service laundry. But because he doesn't want to work, he hires Johnny - a childhood friend with whom he lost touch when Johnny became involved with fascist skinheads. Together they turn the betting shop into a thriving business, and success fosters a closer bond - to the point of establishing a love affair held in strict secrecy. Success stings the skins in the eyes, which they unwind by destroying the car of one of Omar's cousins and beating Johnny with all the brutality hitherto reserved for Asians. Omar rushes to the aid of his friend and lover.
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The British TV film, made by Stephen Frears on 16mm film from a script by Pakistani writer Hanif Kureishi, has been hailed as one of the best depictions of Britain in the era of Margaret Thatcher. Kureishi's model was Mario Puzo's The Godfather - the film was intended to be a social panorama of the Pakistani minority in London, built around Nasser, the head of an ethnic mafia. However, it turned out to be enough to focus on the fate of one of the mafia's underlings and his English business and emotional partner to see the whole web of British-Pakistani relations in various stages of assimilation. The film takes the form of a romantic comedy, touching equally on the themes of coming of age, emotionally and socially, as well as juicily portraying a homosexual relationship - an almost taboo subject at a time of the emerging AIDS epidemic."

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Before he wowed us with iconic roles in “Reservoir Dogs”, “Pulp Fiction”, “The Hateful Eight” and “Chronic”, Tim Roth first appeared on screen in the harrowing “Made in Britain”. It was 1982, and British cinema had been changed forever.

Trevor is a sixteen-year-old skinhead. For numerous thefts, he is sent first to jail and then to a correctional institution. There he is assigned a guardian, Harry Parker (Eric Richard), who discovers that the boy is above average in intelligence. Harry tries at all costs to return the boy to society, but his efforts are unsuccessful.

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