It’s one of the most acclaimed films of the awards season. It was also briefly banned in its home country of Pakistan. What’s all the fuss about? You can find out for yourself, as LGBTQI drama Joyland is in cinemas now.
Written (with American filmmaker Maggie Briggs) and directed by Pakistani filmmaker Saim Sadiq, who handily picked up the Jury Prize of the Un Certain Regard section at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival for his efforts, Joyland is a romantic drama with a difference set in modern-day Lahore. Haider (Ali Junejo), newly married to Mumtaz (Rasti Farooq) and pressured by his traditionalist father Rana (Salmaan Peerzada) to get a job and start producing g randchildren, finds a gig at an erotic dance revue. There, he falls in love with Biba (Alina Khan), the self-assured leader of the troupe, who is a trans woman. They begin an affair, but Haider’s discovery of his sexuality is at odds with his traditional upbringing.
Currently sitting comfortably at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, Joyland is a critical darling, with pundits praising its humanist life-affirming treatment of the topic of queerness in a conservative culture. That didn’t stop the Pakistani government temporarily banning it, though; it was later released with a few trims, but ironically remains forbidden in Punjab, the province in which it is set. Even in the face of that, it was Pakistan’s official submission for Best International Feature Film at the upcoming 95th Academy Awards, making the shortlist.
Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, an executive producer on the film, described Joyland as “…a love letter to Pakistan, to its culture, food, fashion and, most of all, its people. The film reflects reality for millions of ordinary Pakistanis, people who yearn for freedom and fulfilment, people who create moments of joy every day for those they love.” Sounds like a must see to us.
