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PINK

PINK is based on the true story of Yassa Khan, who in 2001 spent a fleeting 24 hours with his bank robbing father, Hassan Khan. Hassan, who had just been released from a twelve year prison sentence, takes his son Yassa on a whirlwind journey into his criminal way of life. As the pair get to know each other again in the most unexpected of circumstances, they go on an emotional journey through crime, pain, and the past. Culminating in Yassa coming out to his father as being gay, which shows Yassa who his father really is and in turn who he is.

  • Yassa Khan
    Director
    Overheated, Cosmoto, Just A Girl
  • Yassa Khan
    Writer
    Overheated, Cosmoto, Just A Girl
  • Jim Caesar
    Key Cast
    "Yassa"
    Baby Reindeer,
  • Gordon Warnecke
    Key Cast
    "Hassan"
    My Beautiful Laundrette
  • Alexandra Roach
    Key Cast
    "Rita"
    The Iron Lady
  • Gethin Scourfield
    Producer
    Hinterland
  • Nora Ostler Spiteri
    Producer
    Light in the Hall
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama, LGBTQ+, CRIME, BIOPIC, DRUGS, WELSH
  • Runtime:
    22 minutes 5 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 24, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    32,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English, Welsh
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:75
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Yassa Khan

Yassa Khan's work combines heartfelt narratives, grand themes and beautiful, at times kaleidoscopic visuals across a body of work ranging from short films and documentaries to music videos and commercial work. Yassa, who is Welsh, Pakistani and gay, draws on his turbulent childhood, harnessing a unique ability to understand complex and emotional stories and convey them with the utmost respect and a lightness of touch. His graphic style is heavily influenced by his previous roles as a graphic design and art director for global advertising agencies and fashion brands such as Grey, Droga5, Havas and The Gucci Group, McQueen and Comme De Garcon.

His first short COSMOTO, a documentary about the front line Zambian anti-poaching officers, received acclaim on the film awards circuit. His latest feature documentary OVERHEATED, a climate film featuring Billie Eilish, Vivienne Westood and Yung Blud was released in partnership with WeTransfer and shown in selected cinemas globally. His latest commercial work includes a campaign for scented water beverage AirUp which features mind bending choreography by Yoann Bourgeois. This was followed by a documentary for Coca Cola about the work being done to mitigate the effects of plastic pollution on the people that live and rely on the Mekong Delta river in Vietnam. He is also working with Ffilm Cyrmu on a feature expected to be released in 2025 as well as writing several feature scripts.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The short film is a father and son story like no other. It charts the very true and very fleeting 24 hours spent with my bank robbing father after his release from prison after a 12 year sentence, where having not known him at all really, I ended up coming out to him. The story depicted in PINK defined me as a person, gave me the confidence to become the man i wanted to become. Shortly after the drama depicted in PINK, my father Hassan Khan once again spent another 12 years in prison, this time on his release in 2020, he had developed Alzheimer’s. After hearing this news at the start of this year I knew that the time to make PINK was, not only for him, but for me and as inspiration for the world that love and acceptance can creep in in the most unexpected of situations and last the test of time.

Visually I wanted the film to be as arresting as the narrative itself, pushing the bar of the short film aesthetic and through its dream sequences having the ability to showcase my graphic and almost other-worldly aesthetic. As the writer also, I was able to reach into the vaults of memory to harness the drama that unfolded and adapt to fit this 22 minute film. Casting was a huge thing for me, casting Alex Roach as mum was incredible, especially as he is one of the most famous Welsh speaking actresses. Jim was next, after meeting him and understanding his similar past with his father, I knew he would be the only Yassa. Finally I reached out to Gordon Warnecke to play my dad, who as a young gay man growing up in the UK knew him from ‘My Beautiful Laundrette’ which was such an inspiration for me growing up brown and gay.

PINK is my magnum opus. I have spent the last 8 months of my life living and breathing PINK, and the last 20 years imagining that one day I’d turn this beautifully traumatic memory into a film. And I did it. I have given it my all, asked others to give their all. And I could not be prouder to share one of my treasured memories, aka PINK. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it. Thank you for reading, Yassa. x