The first-ever Pakistani film to secure an award at Cannes Film Festival before receiving a 10-minute-long standing ovation may not be released in Pakistan with the current situation at hand.
Saim Sadiq’s Joyland celebrates the theme of love between a straight and transgender individual, and the former’s struggle to grow up in a patriarchal society. The internationally acclaimed film is shy of a week from its release in Pakistani cinemas but is facing a major setback. As the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting canceled Joyland‘s exhibition license issued months ago, Lollywood celebrities are raising their concern on social media platforms and urging the ban to be lifted.
A copy of the ministry’s notification was shared on Twitter by JI Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan that read that the Central Board of Film Censors (CBFC) Islamabad granted the censor certificate on August 17 this year. However, after receiving complaints that “the film contains highly objectionable material which does not conform with the social values and moral standards of our society and is clearly repugnant to the norms of ’decency and morality; as laid down in Section 9 of the Motion Picture Ordinance, 1979,” the federal government thence declared Joyland “uncertified”.
Pakistani actress Sarwat Gilani, who is one of the lead stars of Joyland, took to Twitter suggesting that a “paid smear campaign” has pressured the authorities to halt the film’s screening.
Gilani’s tweets read, “Don’t take away this moment of pride and joy from our people!” she wrote. Gilani also said that no one forcing anyone to watch it so similarly no one should be forced to not watch the film.
“Don’t insult their intelligence and our hard work,” the Jawani Phir Nahi Aani actress concluded.
No one’s forcing anyone to watch it! So don’t force anyone to not watch it either! Pakistani viewers are smart enough to know what they want to watch or not. Let Pakistanis decide! Don’t insult their intelligence and our hard work! #ReleaseJoyland @MoIB_Official @GovtofPakistan
— sarwat gilani (@sarwatgilani) November 12, 2022
There’s a paid smear campaign doing rounds against #Joyland, a film that made history for Pakistani cinema, got passed by all censor boards but now authorities are caving into pressure from some malicious people who have not even seen the film. #ReleaseJoyland @MoIB_Official
— sarwat gilani (@sarwatgilani) November 12, 2022
Shameful that a Pakistani film made by 200 Pakistanis over 6 years that got standing ovations from Toronto to Cairo to Cannes is being hindered in its own country. Don’t take away this moment of pride and joy from our people! #ReleaseJoyland @MoIB_Official @GovtofPakistan
— sarwat gilani (@sarwatgilani) November 12, 2022
Singer Abdullah Siddiqui, who made music for Joyland, took to Instagram stories and wrote, “They’re doing it again! There are smear campaigns to ban Joyland. A dark day for all artists in Pakistan yet again. We need your support to make sure we don’t let these violent, insensitive, extremists win again.”
Celebrities including Mira Sethi, Sanam Saeed, Fatima Bhutto, and Osman Khalid Butt also slammed the ‘unfair’ ban.
Hi @Marriyum_A. The ban on #Joyland makes no sense.
(1) You can’t claim to be a democrat but go around banning movies and art!
(2) We go on about “showing Pakistan’s positive side”—this movie does exactly that, by putting Pakistani cinema on the world map. #ReleaseJoyland
— Mira Sethi (@sethimirajee) November 13, 2022
#ReleaseJoyland ! There is no reason not to. Be proud of the work that our artists create not afraid! Give your own people the respect they get in foreign lands. Support us, stand by us and we as Pakistani artists will make this country proud! https://t.co/6jQizg0Xbx
— Sanam Saeed (@sanammodysaeed) November 13, 2022
The censorship of Joyland is senseless. Pakistan is teeming with artists, filmmakers, writers and has a cultural richness and more importantly bravery that the world admires. A smart state would celebrate & promote this not silence and threaten it
— fatima bhutto (@fbhutto) November 12, 2022
The CFBC cleared Joyland for release in August. So the members of the Board had no issues with the theme/content of the film, correct?
The film is set to release on the 18th, which makes point 2 not just severely misleading but factually incorrect.
/cont’d.— Osman Khalid Butt (@aClockworkObi) November 12, 2022
As a nation that has celebrated Joyland’s many milestones and achievements, it is incredibly disheartening to see you cave under the pressure of ‘written complaints’ (by..who, exactly? Where and how have these people seen the film?)
/cont’d.— Osman Khalid Butt (@aClockworkObi) November 12, 2022
It’s baffling to me that even after Joyland made history at Cannes, after all the international critical acclaim it has received, after Pakistan itself submitted the film for Best International Feature at the Oscars, it is somehow (a week before release) unfit for our audiences?
— Osman Khalid Butt (@aClockworkObi) November 12, 2022
There are testimonies by people who’ve ???????????????????????????????? seen the film at Cannes, at TIFF (not those judging by hearsay/bias), who claim there’s absolutely nothing objectionable about Joyland.
We’ve seen the same happen with Verna, with Maalik, with Zindagi Tamasha…
/cont’d.— Osman Khalid Butt (@aClockworkObi) November 12, 2022
Can our cinema please, for once, not be held hostage by what seems to be an entirely arbitrary Ordinance?
There seems to be no issue with hyperviolence, regressive themes, adult jokes and content, overt sexualisation onscreen…but trans representation is where we draw the line?— Osman Khalid Butt (@aClockworkObi) November 12, 2022
If the themes of Joyland (and this is a hypothesis – I haven’t seen the film) are too sensitive/mature for general audiences, then give it an appropriate rating. There’s precedent.
But don’t deprive us of watching the film.#ReleaseJoyland— Osman Khalid Butt (@aClockworkObi) November 12, 2022
To the @MoIB_Official:
Can you please confirm the authenticity of this letter (shared by a member of Senate), because if Joyland has been declared an uncertified film, I’ve got some questions.
/cont’d. pic.twitter.com/YqnVjuGymF— Osman Khalid Butt (@aClockworkObi) November 12, 2022
Joyland was slated for a release on November 18 in Pakistan. The film has been written and directed by Sadiq and produced by Apoorva Guru Charan, Sarmad Sultan Khoosat, and Lauren Mann. The film stars Sarwat Gilani, Sania Saeed, Ali Junejo, Alina Khan, and Rasti Farooq in pivotal roles. Unlocking a major milestone, Saim Saddiq’s film featured a daring portrait of a transgender dancer in a Muslim country.
‘Joyland’: First-ever Cannes winning film on trans dancer to be screened in Pakistan ‘in time’
