With a few cuts, authorities lift ban on Oscar-entry film ISLAMABAD
Shehbaz’s aide says move a message government stands by freedom of speech
Censors are lifting a ban on Pakistan’s Oscar entry, Joyland, but some scenes would be cut before the movie opens across the country, an aide to the prime minister has said.
The movie, which features a love story between a married man and a transgender woman, is Pakistan’s entry for next year’s Academy Awards and was a prizewinner at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
But it has caused controversy and state censors last week banned its showings at movie theatres, reversing a previous all-clear for release.
Mohammad Tahir Hassan, head of the Central Board of Film Censors, told AFP late on Wednesday there is no hindrance from the board for its screening. “The distributors can screen the film from tomorrow morning if they wish,” he added
Salman Sufi, an aide to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, told AP that the decision to lift the ban was made by a committee that the premier had formed to evaluate the film. The board approved the film with minor cuts, he said.
“The decision is a simple yet powerful message that the government stands by freedom of speech and safeguards it,” Sufi said.