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Saim Sadiq\u2019s feature debut, \u201cJoyland,\u201d returns to the world of erotic theater that he explored in his 2019 Venice and SXSW winner \u201cDarling.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJoyland\u201d will premiere at Cannes\u2019 Un Certain Regard strand. The title, the first Pakistani film to be selected in Cannes, will vie for the Cam\u00e9ra d\u2019Or.<\/p>\n
The tale of sexual revolution sees a patriarchal family yearn for the birth of a baby boy to continue the family line, while their youngest son secretly joins an erotic dance theater and falls for an ambitious transsexual starlet.<\/p>\n
Sadiq drew inspiration from his own family and a theater close to his home in Lahore. \u201cI came from a very morally upright, middle-class conservative family, and to find out that this other world exists, literally like a 10-minute drive from my house, that I never knew of. It\u2019s so different, the world of the theater, where sexuality is not such a taboo where women can get on stage and be in such positions of power, where this is a certain form of erotica,\u201d Sadiq says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the same people who are probably sitting at a family dinner in my house, who probably are later going in and watching those shows sometimes, and then pretending that they\u2019re not the same person existing in both worlds. For me, it became an interesting way of examining myself, my family and the world around me with a particular focus on gender and intimacy,\u201d Sadiq adds.<\/p>\n
Pakistan has one of the most progressive transgender cultures in the world. In 2018, Pakistan passed a landmark transgender rights bill that provides the country\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were always very much part of the world that we lived in. They brought a certain sense of color and flamboyance and an owning up of desire in a certain way,\u201d says Sadiq. The filmmaker said that the progress of Pakistan\u2019s transgender community has been so swift that he had to pause writing the script because some narratives about them weren\u2019t accurate anymore. \u201cFrom the time they were struggling and they had all these superstitions around them to now when they are actresses, doctors and news anchors, it\u2019s a big, big shift that I\u2019ve been fortunate enough to see in my life,\u201d Sadiq says.<\/p>\n
Production is by Apoorva Guru Charan, Sarmad Sultan Khoosat (\u201cCircus of Life\u201d) and Lauren Mann (\u201cThe Card Counter\u201d). It was produced through All Caps and Khoosat Films in association with Diversity Hire, One Two Twenty Entertainment, Blood Moon Creative, Film Manufacturers, Astrakan and Noruz Films, from producers Kathryn M. Moseley, Oliver Ridge, April Shih, and Katharina Otto-Bernstein.<\/p>\n
Executive producers are Ramin Bahrani, William Olsson, Jen Goyne Blake, Tiffany Boyle, Elsa Ramo, Oleg Dubson, Kathrin Lohmann, Hari Charana Prasad, Sukanya Puvvula and Owais Ahmed.<\/p>\n
Producer Charan met Sadiq while they were both studying at Columbia film school and produced his 2018 short \u201cNowhere.\u201d\u201d I read the script. And I was like, I have to produce this, I felt it in my blood and veins that this film needed to exist,\u201d says Charan.<\/p>\n
Financing took a while to gather but the floodgates opened eventually. \u201cI think this is the first Pakistani film that has all American financing. It was really a warm and welcoming feeling for me as an Indian producer based in Los Angeles.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJoyland\u201d is represented for sales internationally by Film Constellation and in North America by WME. Condor has picked up French rights.<\/p>\n
Charan also hopes to show the film in India, but distribution might be tricky there as the relationship between Pakistan and India is politically fractious and there have been reciprocal bans on films.<\/p>\n
\u201cI obviously have a personal interest in making sure that Indian audiences as well are seeing it,\u201d says Charan. \u201cAt the very least we would be looking at Indian film festivals. In distribution, we will definitely try.\u201d<\/p>\n
The film stars Ali Junejo, Alina Khan, Rasti Farooq, Sarwat Gilani, Sohail Sameer, Salman Peerzada, and Sania Saeed. Cinematography is by Joe Saade (\u201cCosta Brava Lebanon,\u201d \u201cBroken Keys\u201d).<\/p>\n
View this article at Variety<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cannes Title \u2018Joyland\u2019 Celebrates Pakistan\u2019s Transgender Culture: Saim Sadiq\u2019s feature debut, \u201cJoyland,\u201d returns to the world of erotic theater that he explored in his 2019 Venice and SXSW winner \u201cDarling.\u201d \u201cJoyland\u201d will premiere at Cannes\u2019 Un Certain Regard strand. The title, the first Pakistani film to be selected in Cannes, will vie for the Cam\u00e9ra
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