Cheer for Joyland as Pakistan allows screening of film
A PAKISTANI film portraying romance between a married man and a transgender woman was cleared for domestic screenings last Wednesday (16), officials said, reversing a government ban forced by Islamist pressure.
Lauded by critics, awarded the Jury Prize at Cannes, and nominated as Pakistan’s entry for next year’s Academy Awards, the movie, Joyland, was set to open in cinemas across the country last Friday (18).
It tells the story of the youngest son of a patriarchal Punjabi family who falls in love with a brash transgender dancer.
Their affair exposes the hypocrisy of relationships throughout a multi-generational family struggling with sexuality and the clash of tradition and modernity.
But following objections from Islamists, Pakistan’s information ministry stepped in the previous week to issue a veto declaring the film “repugnant to the norms of decency and morality” and ordered a review by censors. But
Muhammad Tahir Hassan, head of the Central Board of Film Censors, said late last Wednesday that “there is no hindrance from the board for its screening”.
“The distributors can screen the film from tomorrow morning if they wish,” he added.
In Pakistan, the rights of the transgender community are ostensibly enshrined in law.
However, under social stigma most are forced to live on the fringes of society, often resorting to begging, dancing at weddings or sex work for survival.
Meanwhile the slim protections they do enjoy from legislation seeking to end education and workplace discrimination are being challenged by Islamist parties. Transgender activists rallied around the cause of the film on social media following news of the ban.
Joyland is proving to be a huge success in India where it premiered at the Dharamshala International Film Festival earlier this month.