Donkey in Lahore (ATOM Study Guide)

This is a documentary film about falling in love with a person from a culture and society whose values and language are different to your own. Filmed over five years in an observational style in both Pakistan and Australia, Donkey in Lahore offers a fascinating insight into the joys and difficulties of establishing and maintaining a cross-cultural relationship.

Donkey in Lahore tells the real life tale of Brian, an Australian goth whose skills as a puppeteer take him on a journey that transcends borders, religion and love.

While visiting Lahore in Pakistan to perform at a puppet festival, Brian meets Amber, seventeen. Ten years Brian's junior, Amber doesn't seem a likely match for this tear-away Goth. She's a devout Muslim and still lives at home with her tight-knit family. Yet in a whirlwind two-week romance during which the pair are never alone together, they fall in love.

Over the next two years, Brian and Amber continue their relationship by correspondence. Brian converts to Islam in order to be accepted by Amber's family and so that he can marry her.