Saim Sadiq just announced that his Cannes Jury award-winning film Joyland is finally being released in Pakistan on November 18th and here’s all you need to know!
“JOYLAND” the first Pakistani film to have the honor of being an official selection and the first South Asian film to win the Jury Prize award at the 75th Cannes Film Festival – the world’s most prestigious film festival – is finally going to grace Pakistani cinemas on 18th November. The film will be distributed nationally by IMGC Distribution Club and will release in cinemas across the country including Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad simultaneously on the 18th of November right after the T20 Cricket World Cup.
The highly anticipated film has been passed by all the censor boards of Pakistan with an ‘A’ certificate. The Federal, Punjab and Sindh censor boards graciously cleared Joyland with minor cuts so that the country could welcome the local release of a film that has brought so much honor and acclaim for Pakistan in the international film world.
Making It International!
Earlier this May, “Joyland” made the whole nation proud when it got an 8 minute standing ovation at its world premiere at the 75th Cannes Film Festival where it also bagged the ‘Un Certain Regard Jury Prize’. Following that, it also got yet another standing ovation this September at the Toronto International Film Festival at its North American premiere. The film also won the award for ‘Best Film of the Subcontinent’ at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne in August.
What Joyland Is About
Produced by Sarmad Khoosat and Directed by Saim Sadiq, the film’s ensemble cast includes debutants Ali Junejo, Alina Khan, and Rasti Farooq alongside some of Pakistan’s most loved and respected actors like Sarwat Gilani, Sania Saeed, Sohail Sameer, and Salmaan Peerzada. The family drama is centered primarily around Haider, the youngest son of a middle-class family who secretly joins a theatre as a background dancer and develops a friendship with Biba, a trans theatre dancer struggling to make a mark at the theatre. Set in Lahore, “Joyland” is a family drama about desire, secrets, and empathy.
Sheikh Abid Rasheed, the Executive Director of Distribution Club expressed his excitement at bringing this prestigious film to the Pakistani screens and added that the preparations for the release of the film have entered the final stages. Sarmad Khoosat added that the film’s poster, teaser, and trailer will be released soon as the film begins its promotions in October before its release on 18th November when it will finally be in theaters for the Pakistani audience to experience.
