The first Pakistani film to win an award at the Cannes Film Festival and get a standing ovation for 10 minutes may not be shown in Pakistan because of the current situation.

Saim Sadiq’s play Joyland is about the love between a straight person and a transgender person. It also shows how hard it is for the straight person to grow up in a patriarchal society. Nearly a week before it comes out in Pakistani theatres, the film that has been praised all over the world is facing a major setback. Since the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting took away Joyland’s licence to show movies months ago, Lollywood stars are using social media to express their concern and ask that the ban be lifted.

JI Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan posted a copy of the ministry’s notice on Twitter. It said that the censor certificate was given by the Central Board of Film Censors (CBFC) in Islamabad on August 17 of this year. But after hearing complaints that “the film contains highly objectionable material that does not conform with the social values and moral standards of our society and is clearly offensive to the standards of ‘decency and morality’ as set out in Section 9 of the Motion Picture Ordinance, 1979,” the federal government declared Joyland “uncertified.”

Gilani’s tweets read, “Don’t take away this moment of pride and joy from our people!”

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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. Don’t take away this moment of pride and joy from our people! #ReleaseJoyland @MoIB_Official @GovtofPakistan

— sarwat gilani (@sarwatgilani) November 12, 2022

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 into pressure from some malicious people who have not even seen the film. #ReleaseJoyland @MoIB_Official

— sarwat gilani (@sarwatgilani) November 12, 2022

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 into pressure from some malicious people who have not even seen the film. #ReleaseJoyland @MoIB_Official

— sarwat gilani (@sarwatgilani) November 12, 2022

Mira Sethi, Sanam Saeed, Fatima Bhutto, and Osman Khalid Butt also slammed the ‘unfair’ ban.

Hi @Marriyum_A. The ban on #Joyland makes no sense.

(1) You can’t claim to be a democrat but go around banning movies and art!

(2) We go on about “showing Pakistan’s positive side”—this movie does exactly that, by putting Pakistani cinema on the world map. #ReleaseJoyland

— Mira Sethi (@sethimirajee) November 13, 2022

#ReleaseJoyland ! There is no reason not to. Be proud of the work that our artists create not afraid! Give your own people the respect they get in foreign lands. Support us, stand by us and we as Pakistani artists will make this country proud! https://www.bolnews.com/latest/2022/11/sarwat-gilani-talks-about-joylands-ban-in-pakistan/amp/

— Sanam Saeed (@sanammodysaeed) November 13, 2022

To the @MoIB_Official:

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Can you please confirm the authenticity of this letter (shared by a member of Senate), because if Joyland has been declared an uncertified film, I’ve got some questions.
/cont’d. pic.twitter.com/YqnVjuGymF

— Osman Khalid Butt (@aClockworkObi) November 12, 2022

As a nation that has celebrated Joyland’s many milestones and achievements, it is incredibly disheartening to see you cave under the pressure of ‘written complaints’ (by..who, exactly? Where and how have these people seen the film?)

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/cont’d.

— Osman Khalid Butt (@aClockworkObi) November 12, 2022

Can our cinema please, for once, not be held hostage by what seems to be an entirely arbitrary Ordinance?
There seems to be no issue with hyperviolence, regressive themes, adult jokes and content, overt sexualisation onscreen…but trans representation is where we draw the line?

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— Osman Khalid Butt (@aClockworkObi) November 12, 2022

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