After bagging all the praises and acknowledgment from all around the world and even on the biggest forums of the entertainment industry finally, we will see this masterpiece Joyland in Pakistan. The movie is all set to be released in cinemas on the 24th of September this year.
Directed by Saim Sadiq, Joyland is one of the few Pakistani films that made it to Cannes. In the past, Shamoon Ababsi’s Durj made it to the global film festival. As well as the Pakistani film Wakhri which is a Qandeel Baloch biopic. The Joyland cast includes some more famed stars like Sania Saeed, Sarwat Gilani, Salman Peerzada, Ali Junejo, and Rasti Farooq. And Alina Khan a transgender actress is the protagonist.
It is a tale of the sexual revolution and tells the story of the youngest son in a patriarchal family who is expected to produce a baby boy with his wife. He instead joins an erotic dance theatre and falls for the troupe’s director, a Trans-woman.
The director of the film has often stated in his interviews that this film was made for the Pakistani audience. But the censor board has restricted the film to be shown in Pakistan. He has assured the viewers time and again that there is nothing in the film which irked the censor board. He said,
“I knew the intent was always to screen the film in Pakistan, this whole other thing of going to Cannes and stuff that just happened. But I made the film to show it here.”
It was the first-ever Pakistani movie at the Cannes festival which also won the Jury Prize in the “Un Certain Regard” competition. That even the Queer Palm jury head, French director Catherine Corsini of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival told AFP earlier.
“It’s a very powerful film that represents everything that we stand for”
