{"id":5687,"date":"2022-11-04T19:40:24","date_gmt":"2022-11-04T19:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ramolawpc.com\/?p=5687"},"modified":"2022-11-16T19:44:51","modified_gmt":"2022-11-16T19:44:51","slug":"variety-joyland-director-11-4-22","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ramolawpc.com\/new\/variety-joyland-director-11-4-22\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Joyland’ Director Saim Sadiq Talks Oscar Candidacy and Nerves About Bringing Film to Pakistani Audiences"},"content":{"rendered":"

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‘Joyland’ Director Saim Sadiq Talks Oscar Candidacy and Nerves About Bringing Film to Pakistani Audiences: <\/h1>\n

On the heels of writer-director Saim Sadiq\u2019s latest feature \u201cJoyland\u201d being chosen as Pakistan\u2019s Oscar entry, Variety film critic Guy Lodge discussed the project\u2019s buzz in award circuit circles in spite of Sadiq\u2019s doubts the film would be positively received by foreign audiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cInitially, it was a bit overwhelming, because when the news came out about Cannes and then the award particularly, it was a bit jarring for me because I was like, \u2018I\u2019m not sure how this film\u2019s going to be received,’\u201d Sadiq said in the Variety Streaming Room discussion, recalling when he won the Jury Prize at the 75th Cannes Film Festival.<\/p>\n

Though Sadiq boasts an extensive list of credits as both a director and writer on various short films, \u201cJoyland\u201d marks the filmmaker\u2019s feature film debut. Set in Lahore, a city in northeastern Pakistan, \u201cJoyland\u201d follows the Ranas, a middle-class family with stringent, patriarchal family values that are disrupted when the youngest son in the family (played by Ali Junejo) joins an erotic dance theater and falls for a transgender dancer named Biba (played by Alina Khan). Sadiq first penned the idea for \u201cJoyland\u201d as a college student at Columbia University, but adapted it into a short film he wrote and directed, called \u201cDarling\u201d for his senior thesis, which also stars Khan. The premise was then expanded into a full-fledged feature \u2014 a process that took six years.<\/p>\n

Dialogue is spoken in Urdu, and despite being a critically acclaimed Pakistani film internationally, it has yet to premiere in its native country. Sadiq said audiences will be able to see \u201cJoyland\u201d in Pakistan\u2019s theaters Nov. 18.<\/p>\n

He hesitated to define the film as \u201cqueer cinema\u201d \u2014 a label he said is sometimes perceived as controversial in Pakistani filmmaking \u2014 and instead described it as a drama with queer elements. The distinction serves to separate the film\u2019s queer characters from its larger theme of generational trauma from conservative family traditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a [Pakistani] film where there was a child who turns out to be a transgender, and it was a family drama, but it was a small part of the narrative,\u201d Sadiq explained. \u201cIt was received with some controversy, but largely very well received. But again, it didn\u2019t really take a queer cinema turn. It was very much a social issue, hot-button topic kind of cinema turn. It wasn\u2019t really owning the queerness as far as the whole narrative is concerned and the ethos was not queer itself, I think, which is true for \u2018Joyland.’\u201d<\/p>\n

View this article and the full video at Variety<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘Joyland’ Director Saim Sadiq Talks Oscar Candidacy and Nerves About Bringing Film to Pakistani Audiences: On the heels of writer-director Saim Sadiq\u2019s latest feature \u201cJoyland\u201d being chosen as Pakistan\u2019s Oscar entry, Variety film critic Guy Lodge discussed the project\u2019s buzz in award circuit circles in spite of Sadiq\u2019s doubts the film would be positively received
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