Having joined the team as an executive producer, the Nobel prize laureate, came to support the film’s UK London Film Festival premiere at the Curzon Soho Thursday.
UK distributor Studio Soho were proud to have JOYLAND playing as a part of the Sutherland Award (first feature competition) at this year’s London Film Festival, and thrilled to have the cast and filmmaking team in town to introduce the film to a sold-out festival screening last night.
Talent in attendance included director/writer Saim Sadiq, cast members Ali Junejo, Rasti Farooq, Alina Khan and Sarwat Gilani, producers Sarmad Khoosat and Apoorva Charan, along with newly announced executive producer Malala Yousafzai.
Saim Sadiq’s debut feature is the first film by a Pakistani director to win at the Cannes Film Festival. Alongside its jury prize win, JOYLAND won the Queer Palme award at Cannes. The film has also been officially submitted for best international feature at the Oscars 2023 by Pakistan.
The feature follows a patriarchal family as they yearn for the birth of a baby boy to continue the family line, while their youngest son secretly joins an erotic dance theatre and falls for an ambitious trans starlet. Their impossible love story begins to illuminate the entire family’s desire for a sexual rebellion.
JOYLAND is the feature debut of writer and director Saim Sadiq whose previous short film “Darling” won the Orizzonti Best Short Film award at the 2019 Venice Film Festival. The film stars Ali Junejo, Alina Khan, Rasti Farooq, Sarwat Gilani, Sohail Sameer, Salman Peerzada, and Sania Saeed. Cinematography is by Joe Saade (“Costa Brava Lebanon,” “Broken Keys”).
