Joyland, directed by Saim Sadiq, was Pakistan’s submission to the Best International Feature category at the Academy Awards, however, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has now banned it, overturning a previous decision to allow its theatrical distribution.
Describing it as a “sudden U-turn” and “totally unconstitutional and unlawful,” Sadiq and the film’s creators are challenging the ban in court.
Taking to Instagram, Sadiq posted a series of pictures containing a message for his followers. The post read, “Our film got seen and certified by all three censor boards in August 2022. The 18th amendment in the Pakistani constitution gives all provinces the autonomy to make their own decision. Yet the Ministry suddenly caved under pressure from a few extremist factions – who have not seen the film – and made a mockery of our federal censor board by rendering their decision irrelevant.”
He further added that the Ministry has gone too far by making other provinces follow their lead, taking a huge reverse from their initial agreement. “The Ministry has also gone against the constitution by ordering all the other provincial censor boards to follow its decision-an order which it has no right to give and one that I hope is disregarded by Sindh and Punjab censor boards,” Sadiq added.
Sadiq also affirmed that “legally” the film is still certified to release in Punjab and Sindh on 18th November. He said, “Legally speaking, Joyland is still certified to release in Punjab and Sindh on 18th November. The director then concluded his statement with pictures of the signed documents of their approval of the film and showing gratitude to the world who is supporting them in uplifting the ban.
The film follows a Pakistani family whose youngest son joins a hidden sexual dance theatre and falls in love with a transwoman; it debuted and received the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
After making its debut at Cannes as the first film from Pakistan to be shown there, the picture went on to screen at several festivals across the world, most recently at the DharamshalaInternational Film Festival in India.
In addition to the Young Cinema Award at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Australia last weekend, it also played at the Toronto International Film Festival and received the Cannes Queer Palm.
Maria B, a Pakistani fashion designer slammed the film online due to her disagreements with some scenes. She made several Instagram posts last week asserting that the film violated the social ideals of Islam and Pakistan. Soon after her statements went viral, a hashtag named “Ban Joyland” began trending on Twitter in Pakistan not long after. Several other celebrities voiced out the issue.
In light of this controversy, Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) issued a notification saying the film was not approved for their country. The release date in local theatres was set for November 18.
The Ministry notice read: “On the release of the film, written complaints were received that the film contains highly objectionable material that does not conform with the social values and moral standards of our society and is repugnant to the norms of ‘decency and morality as laid down in Section 9 of the Motion Picture Ordinance, 1979.
“The Federal Government declares the feature film titled Joyland as an uncertified film for the whole of Pakistan in the cinemas which fall under the jurisdiction of the CBFC with immediate effect.”
In recent developments. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has now appointed a special committee to review the complaints. The Prime Minister’s Office in Islamabad issued a notification on Monday marked “very urgent.”
The subject read “Committee to deliberate on complaints against the Urdu film Joyland” followed by a list of members. They included the information minister, the communications minister, the investment minister, the IT minister, the telecoms minister, the advisor to the prime minister of Gilgit-Baltistan, the PTA chairman, and the PEMRA chairman.
Sharif also stated that this committee will “consider the complaints against the said film being against the social and moral norms, and recommend follow-up action”. The committee will get secretarial assistance from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and will report back on Tuesday (today) with its conclusions.
