POP UP CINEMA BRIGHTON

Yes, you read that right: the mother of New York City’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, is acclaimed director Mira Nair. Between creating landmark works such as Caméra d’Or–winning and Oscar-nominated Salaam Bombay! and the Golden Lion and Golden Globe–winning Monsoon Wedding, Nair crafted this wonderfully luminous, big-hearted, sweet, sexy, and deeply satisfying celebration of love’s power to transcend racial prejudice, now finally enjoying a well-deserved revival.

 

After Mina’s (Sarita Choudhury - The Green Knight, Homeland, And Just Like That…, Fallout) Indian family are exiled from their home by Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, they relocate to Mississippi to begin anew. Now in her twenties, Mina falls for the dashing young carpet cleaner Demetrius (Denzel Washington - Training Day, Philadelphia, American Gangster), despite her family’s fierce objections to their relationship. Their passionate romance unfolds amid the broader cultural tensions between Mississippi’s Indian and African American communities, while Mina’s father (Roshan Seth – Gandhi, My Beautiful Laundrette, The Buddha of Suburbia) struggles to release his lingering attachment to the life he lost in Uganda.

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A romantic gem rich filled with humour and piercing insight, Mississippi Masala explores identity, displacement, colourism, community, prejudice, family, and generational divides. It is a gorgeously irresistible yet honest ode to the melting pot of American society, as well as a moving portrait of individual emotional reckoning.

 

Beautifully shot in warm, glowing tones with intimate, naturalistic cinematography, the film looks spectacular in this new restoration. making this modern classic more effervescent than ever. We can’t wait to welcome you to this special screening of a truly underappreciated treasure of early ’90s cinema.