EAST IS EAST European Film Showcase

Damien O’Donnell’s directorial debut tells the often hilarious and poignant story of two cultures colliding within one family. George Khan is the father of seven free-spirited children. He wants the best for them, which means raising them in his traditional Pakistani culture. Unfortunately for George, the reality is that his family is growing up in a London suburb surrounded by the “free” culture of 1970s England – a lifestyle very much at odds with George’s traditional upbringing.

The Khan children are constantly struggling against their father’s dogmatic way of life. Tomboy Meenah prefers playing football to wearing a sari. Hippie Saleem, in concert with his mother, keeps his art studies secret from his father, letting him believe Saleem is attending engineering school. Tariq is more concerned with breaking hearts than breaking rules. And the youngest of the clan, 12-year-old Sajid, has yet to be circumcised. When the Khan kids rebel against their father’s wishes, George’s Lancashire-born wife, Ella, is forced to choose between her love for her husband and the right of her children to live their own lives.