Pakistan’s this year Oscar submission movie’Joyland’, which was slated to release on November 18, has been banned in the country, just like many movies.
The Saim Sadiq directorial movie was banned despite making history as the first feature film to be screened at the prestigious festival in March, but why?
Joyland’s plot
Joyland follows a patriarchal family, craving for the birth of a baby boy to continue the family line, however, the family’s youngest son, the protagonist, secretly joins an erotic dance theatre and falls for a trans woman.
Cast
Joyland features an ensemble cast of Sania Saeed, Ali Junejo, Alina Khan, Sarwat Gilani, Rasti Farooq, Salmaan Peerzada, and Sohail Sameer.
Why was ‘Joyland’ banned?
Joyland acquired the green light for its release on August 17 from the Pakistani authorities, however, just a few days before its release the same authorities banned the movie alleging that it contains ‘highly objectionable material’.
Official notice
In its notification which was issued earlier this month, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting banning said, “Written complaints were received 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.”
Films that were banned previously
Below is a list of Pakistani movies that were banned in the country before its release and despite receiving positive reviews globally:
I’ll Meet You There (2022)
Zindagi Tamasha
Javed Iqbal: The Untold Story of a Serial Killer
Maalik
Durj
Social media outrage
Many social media users have expressed anger and asked the government for halting the release of the movie. One of the users posted, “Why was the censor board’s approval of Joyland, August 17, 2022, reversed a week before release? Why were complaints by people who haven’t seen the film accepted? Is violence in films approved by the censor in line with our ‘moral standards’?” They slammed the government for paving the pressure by the fundamentalists against the film.
