Pakistan bans the film Joyland, its official Oscar entry, because of ‘highly objectionable content’ concerning queer theme

On November 11, Saim Sadiq’s critically-acclaimed film Joyland got banned in Pakistan by the authorities. In its notification, the ministry noted, “Written complaints were received that the film contains highly objectionable material which does not conform with the social values and moral standards of our society and is clearly repugnant to the norms of ‘decency and morality as laid down in Section 9 of the Motion Picture Ordinance, 1979.” The film was scheduled for theatre release on November 18. Another cast member Sarwat Gilani said, “There’s a paid smear campaign doing rounds against #Joyland, a film that made history for Pakistani cinema, got passed by all censor boards, but now authorities are caving in to pressure from some malicious people who have not even seen the film.” Shameful that a Pakistani film made by 200 Pakistanis over 6 years that got standing ovations from Toronto to Cairo to Cannes is being hindered in its own country. #ReleaseJoyland @MoIB_Official @GovtofPakistan — sarwat gilani November 12, 2022 “Shameful that a Pakistani film made by 200 Pakistanis over six years that got standing ovations from Toronto to Cairo to Cannes is being hindered in its own country.