Pakistan has banned Saim Sadiq's critically acclaimed film Joyland, saying it contains highly objectionable content; the Associated Press reported.
Joyland is a fictional story about a middle-class family in Lahore in which a wheelchair-bound but fiercely elderly man rules over his two sons and daughters-in-law. The guardian wants his children to give him grandchildren, but that all changes when his younger son Haider falls in love with Biba, an intersex dancer he works for.
The film, Pakistan's official entry to the 2023 Oscars, was given a certificate by Pakistani authorities in August this year allowing it to be screened. However, since then objections have been raised on the content of the film and written complaints have been received that the film contains highly objectionable content which is not in consonance with the social values and ethical standards of our society and is against the principles of 'decency and ethics' laid down in Section 9 of the Motion Picture Ordinance. 1979, Pakistan's Ministry of information and broadcasting said. With this, the film – which became the first Pakistani film to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival – can no longer be screened in Pakistan.
