KARACHI: Pakistan’s Oscar entry, “Joyland,” was released in cinemas in some parts of Pakistan on Friday after being cleared by censors, a week after it was banned by the government due to pressure from right-wing religious factions.
Joyland, which celebrates “transgender culture” in Pakistan and tells the story of a family torn between modernity and tradition in contemporary Lahore, won the Cannes “Queer Palm” prize for best feminist-themed movie as well as the Jury Prize in the “Un Certain Regard” competition, a segment focusing on young, innovative cinema talent.
The Central Board of Film Censors (CBFC) issued the movie a clearance certificate for release in August. But in a notification issued last week, the information ministry said the federal government had found Joyland “repugnant to the norms of decency and morality” and ruled that it was an “uncertified film” for release in cinemas.
After widespread uproar, the government set up a committee to review the ban, which cleared it for release this week.
However, the government of Pakistan’s largest and most populous province of Punjab has announced the film will not release there.
“The Government of Punjab … has decided to recall your above titled film in the wake of persistent complaints received from different quarters,” the Ministry of Information and Culture Punjab said in a notice dated Nov. 17 to the film’s distributor.
“You are therefore directed not to exhibit above titled film in the jurisdiction of Punjab province till the further orders of the government.”
As of Friday afternoon, the filmmakers had not issued an official statement on the nationwide ban being overturned or the new ban in Punjab.
According to the official Academy rules, Joyland needs to play in theaters for at least seven days before November 30 to qualify for inclusion.
The first-ever Pakistani competitive entry left Cannes audiences slack-jawed and admiring and got a nearly 10-minute-long standing ovation from the opening night’s crowd.
Part of the surprise came from the discovery by many that Pakistan is one the first nations to have given legal protection against discrimination of transgender people.
In 2018, Pakistan passed a landmark transgender rights bill that provides its trans citizens with fundamental rights including prohibiting discrimination and harassment against them educationally and socially, allowing them to obtain driving licenses and passports and to change their gender in the national database at their own discretion.
But right-wing religious parties have been campaigning for months to amend the hard-won transgender rights legislation and say the attempts at recognizing and protecting their rights are signs of encroaching Western values.
