Joyland, Pakistan’s official entry for the Oscars this year, is ready for a theatrical release in India, according to an upcoming release schedule posted by PVR Pictures, the film production and distribution arm of PVR Group, an Indian multiplex chain with headquarters in Gurgaon.
The release will mark the first Pakistani film that would screen in India in over a decade after Shoaib Mansoor’s ‘Bol.’
According to media reports, PVR Pictures has acquired the movie’s distribution rights, and the movie will begin playing in theatres on March 10 – just two days before the 95th Academy Awards ceremony.
Also read: Pakistani movie Joyland grosses $1 million in France
Initially, Variety had written about the movie’s eventual global distribution, which included India.
‘Joyland’ was announced as Pakistan’s official entry for the Oscar’s in September last year. Earlier this month, the film was shortlisted by the Academy in the Best International Feature Film category. The nominations will be announced on Tuesday, with the ceremony set to take place on March 12.
Earlier this month, ‘Joyland’ clinched the Best Acting prize at the Palm Spring Film Festival.
The film has been picking up accolades on the festival circuit including the Queer Palm and Jury prize at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.
The prestigious Sundance Film Festival will host the US debut of the Cannes winner, which has already earned over $1 million in France.
The movie Joyland tells the tale of a man who was raised in a traditional, patriarchal family and who eventually falls in love with a transgender dancer he met in an erotic dance theatre. The journal referred to the movie as a “crowd-pleaser” and a “boundary-breaker,” and it has received backing from a number of well-known people throughout the world, including actor Riz Ahmed and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, who are now the executive producers.
