A WEEKLY FILM NEWSLETTER PROMOTING ARTHOUSE, REPERTORY, ART, SHORT FORM AND EXPERIMENTAL CINEMA SCREENING IN THE CITY OF MELBOURNE

22 June 2023

JOYLAND

(Saim Sadiq, 2022)

Screening daily as part of Cinema Nova’s Pride on Screen program

DCP Courtesy: Madman Entertainment

Classification: MA15+

Words by Andrew Tabacco

In what will be Melbourne's fifth opportunity to see young Pakistani-born director Saim Sadiq's Joyland, following runs at MIFF, the Indian Film Festival Melbourne (where it interestingly won the festival's 'Best Film from the Subcontinent’ Award despite tensions between India and Pakistan still high), the Melbourne Queer Film Festival and ACMI’s ‘Best 22 of 2022’ series. The double Cannes prize-winner returns to the big screen as part of Cinema Nova's ‘Pride on Screen’ program, which features a mix of the cinema's biggest queer hits and new queer works. The then 31-year-old Sadiq's debut feature has been labelled groundbreaking for many reasons, mainly due to the plaudits and barriers it has overcome. The film was not only the first Pakistani film to premiere on the Croisette, where it took both the Queer Palm and the Un Certain Regard sidebar Jury Prize, but also the first Pakistani film to make the Oscars ‘Best International Film’ shortlist. 

Joyland tells the story of Haider, a married man who falls in love with a transgender woman called Biba, an exotic dancer (whose dancing is not so exotic by Western standards). The film was initially banned from screening in its own country on the grounds of being deemed 'highly objectionable.' This sparked fierce online debate, with the hashtags #ReleaseJoyland and #BanJoyland trending on Twitter. On the #BanJoyland side of the argument, as outlined by an MP for the Pakistani Islamic political party, Jamaat-e-Islami, Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, who, despite admitting to not having watched the film, objected to both the film's LGBTQIA+ story and its supposed glamorisation of an extramarital affair. He told Al Jazeera that Joyland was part of a trend “of cultural terrorism in Pakistan, which questions our institution of marriage and our cultural norms.” Remarkably, after only three days, some government advised censorship of two scenes that were deemed to risque (which Sadiq anticipated and shot alternatives for) and an op-ed from the film's executive producer and the youngest Nobel laureate of all time, Malala Yousafzai, yes that Malala, the decision was reversed. The film was released in all but one province in Pakistan - more on this later.

There is an interesting and devastating subtext to the public outcry that has shadowed Joyland. In Pakistan, “Khawaja sira” is the local term denoting the gender identity of a ‘third sex’; which includes trans people, intersex, eunuchs and crossdressers. Khawaja siras date back to the 16th century, where the Khawaja sira community held important roles as advisors to the Mughal court, but were outlawed during British colonial rule, which saw the community’s acceptance quickly erode. Fast-forward to more modern times, the majority of the trans community in Pakistan still identify as Khawja sira. However due to decades of systematic violence and discrimination in society have been forced to live in adoptive families usually run by a mother figure called a ‘guru’. Guru’s provides protection and shelter for young trans people in return for a percentage of earnings, which are usually from sex work, dancing or begging.

In 2018, following widespread violence against trans people including the highly publicised death of a young trans activist who was denied hospital access after being shot six times. Pakistan passed anti-discrimination laws that allowed Pakistani ‘citizens the right to self-identify as male, female or a blend of both genders, and to have that identity registered on all official documents, including National Identification Cards, passports, driver’s licences and education certificates’. Despite this victory for the community, as also evidenced by the initial decision to ban Joyland in Pakistan, the new laws have been unsuccessful in curbing discrimination against trans people, with 91 transgender women murdered and another 2000 registered cases against the transgender community in Pakistan’s northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alone since 2015. Now going back to the one province that up-held the film’s ban, the Punjab Province, the capital Lahore is both Sadiq’s hometown and the location for Joyland, but also home to the majority of Pakistan’s cinemas and holds almost half of Pakistan’s entire population.

Shot on 4:3 ratio, which immediately introduces one of the many metaphors presented in the film, the choice of aspect ratio immediately establishes the constriction that every character will face in Joyland.  In a lot of ways, the global backlash to the ban presents the film as a groundbreaking piece of trans cinema, which isn’t quite right, instead Sadiq’s film is a devastating and exceptionally complex queer drama about battling tradition, societal structures and gossip. We are first introduced to the film’s main character, the charming and warm Haider, gleefully playing with his nieces under a sheet. Next, the mild mannered Haider, portrayed with subtle yet visceral emotion by Ali Junejo, is seen racing through the streets of Lahore on a moped with a pregnant woman, weaving his way to hospital. At the hospital we find out that the woman is Haider’s sister-in-law, and despite the wishes of his family, the child is a girl, the couple's fourth daughter.

The family dynamic is quickly established. At the head of the family is an ailing widower and patriarch, Rana Amanullah, Abba for short. Living with Abba are his son Haider, revealed to be a stay-at-home husband and his wife via arranged marriage Mumtaz, an independent and strong willed makeup artist. The couple’s employment status is a source of embarrassment for Abba, who openly sees his son as a failure. Also living in this house is Haider’s brother Saleem, his wife Nucci and their four girls. We are immediately reminded of the couple’s reversed gender roles, when the local butcher doesn’t show up to the house to slaughter a goat, Abba orders Haider to do the deed, which he can’t do, prompting Mumtaz to take over. The subsequent look on Abba's face, in actor Salmaan Peerzada’s first onscreen role in 38 years, perfectly encapsulates the shame and embarrassment that his seemingly hopeless son has brought him over the years.

In a moment of serendipity, Haider, who momentarily locked eyes with the striking transgender dancer Biba (portrayed by breakout star Alina Khan) at the hospital at the start of the film, inexplicably gets a gig as her backup dancer for Biba’s exotic dance intermission show. Haider, relieved to finally get his dad off his back, breaks the news of his new job, but lies about the position, telling Abba he’s the theatre manager. In a rare display of emotion, Abba is happy that Haider has finally pulled through and gleefully relieves Mumtaz of her role as the bread-winner, much to her derision. Appearances are everything to Abba and it has a piercing ripple effect on the family, with even a supposed nice moment with Haider ruined when he suggests he not tell people he is working at the exotic theatre despite the glossy and improbable new title for his chronically unemployed son. 

This switch in employment status marks the film’s first spark of tension, with Mumtaz now forced to leave the job she loves to work on the seemingly infinite list of chores set by Abba whilst Haider quickly becomes enamoured by the hypnotising Biba, hastily becoming seduced by her larger than life personality. Here lies another slightly obvious visual cue, the hardworking and talented Mumtaz is trapped tending home while Haider, the perennial slacker and according to one of the exotic theatre directors, a ‘terrible’ dancer is set free.

In a cliched but forgivable narrative decision, Haider quickly ‘finds himself’ whilst working with the mysterious Biba and almost immediately gets sucked into her world. At first he trails her like a puppy dog and rapidly becomes intimate with her, with no regard for what anyone else thinks, paling in comparison to the version of himself we see when he first gets the job. Haider’s early interactions with Biba create the film’s main press image, with Haider having to drive around a giant cardboard cutout of Biba through the streets of Lahore on his moped. With the help of Mumtaz, he hides the cutout on the roof of the family home, barely covering it in a mostly transparent sheet, essentially inviting the neighbours to take notice.

As Haider continues to break free from societal pressure with his intense yet essentially doomed fling with Biba, the woman he has left behind, Mumtaz, falls more into the prison that is her surroundings. This heartbreaking juxtaposition between the couple is palpable in all of Mumtaz’s hypnotic scenes of subtle rebellion, but the hopelessness of her situation is devastatingly expressed when she finally tries to escape. Screenwriters Maggie Briggs and Sadiq astutely craft both Haider and the film’s juggling act, on one hand an intense love affair between a queer man and a trans woman is told in an agonisingly sympathetic manner and on the other, an outwardly amicable yet fraught forced relationship between two doomed but compassionate people. When Mumtaz eventually falls pregnant, with a boy, no less, the film’s rage hits fever pitch. 

Despite some of its rather obvious filmic choices and occasionally vague storytelling, Joyland is an undeniably affecting film that tells a story of a people fighting back against an unjust and uncaring society. Reminiscent to the works of Iranian masters Asghar Farhadi and Jafar Panahi, who are able to create visceral tension from nothing more than the prying eyes of neighbours and society, everyone in Joyland are forced to navigate the judgement and derision of their peers. Even the conservative patriarch Abba suffers at the hands of the oppressive system he lives under, when he is forced to decide between an affectionate widowed neighbour who looks after him and the public fall out of her potentially staying permanently or Haider’s sister-in-law Nucci, who only after a family tragedy fully understands the harm caused by societal expectation. Sadiq also tells a queer love story with almost unparalleled compassion, exploring both Haider and Babi’s queerness with complexity and delicacy that burns up the screen. Joyland is a messy but important debut feature and although the film's fascinating subtext presents the film as something it isn’t, as critic Drew Burnett Gregory perfectly articulates, Joyland “is not a great trans film — but it is a great film with a trans lead.”

Watch:

Joyland is screening once daily from 22 - 28 June at Cinema Nova as part of the PRIDE ON SCREEN 2023 program. Tickets here.

Further Reading:

”Colonial Hangover: LGBT Rights in the Subcontinent” by Hassaan bin Sabir. Read here.

“Transgender Pakistanis Win Legal Victories, but Violence Goes On” by Mehreen Zahra-Malik. Read here.

“‘Joyland’ Review: A Target of Gossip” by Amy Nicholson. Read here.

“Pakistan passes landmark transgender rights law” by Asad Hashim. Read here.

“Pakistan bans its official Oscar entry Joyland” by Abid Hussain. Read here.

“Pakistan’s transgender women protest against rising tide of violence” by Shah Meer Baloch. Read here.

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WEEKLY FILM LISTINGS

June 22 - 28

ACMI

Our Race presents Subject Q&A screening
Camilla Hall & Jennifer Tiexiera , 2022
Screening Thursday 22 June 6pm-9pm

The Power of the Dog
Jane Campion, 2002
Screening Saturday 22 June 6.30pm

Empire of Light
Sam Mendes, 2022
Matinee screening 23-25 June

In the Cut
Jane Campion, 2003
Screening Friday 23 June

Bright Star

Jane Campion, 2008
Screening Sat 24 June

An Angel at My Table
Jane Campion, 1990
Screening Sat 24 June

Sweetie
Jane Campion, 1989
Screening Sun 25 June

Muriel’s Wedding

PJ Hogan, 1994

Screening Sunday 25 June as part of Goddess Sundays

ARTIST FILM WORKSHOP

9 x 16 from Zero Pixel Festival

‘(A) Bridged’ by Lorant Smee, 6 min

‘Tired, Stale Eyes…’ Lucas Haynes, 8 min

‘Love and Other Ecologies’ Melody Woodnut, 15 min

‘Tiangong-1’ Paddy Hay & Louis Marlo, 8 min

‘Shadows on Grass’ Lisa Theiler, 6 min

‘Window’ Rowena Crowe, 5 min

‘A Version of Us’ Helen Nias, 3 min

‘Silver Shards’ Callum Ross-Thomson, 3 min

‘Analysis Paralysis’ Jordan James Kaye, 12 min

7:30pm Tues 27 June, The Brunswick Green, $10 tickets on the door.

ASTOR CINEMA

Scarface (40th Anniversary)

Brian de Palma

Screening Fri 23 June

The King of all the World (Spanish FF)

Carlos Suara, 2021

Screening Sat 24 June

Polyester - Presented in Odorama w/ Smell Art

John Waters, 1981

Screening Sat 24 June

A Life on the Farm

Oscar Harding, 2022

Screening Sat 24 June

Walls Can Talk (Spanish FF)

Carlos Saura, 2022

Screening Sun 25 June

The Great Escape (60th Anniversary)

John Sturges, 1963

Screening Sun 25 June

North by Northwest

Alfred Hitchcock, 1959

+

Strangers on a Train

Alfred Hitchcock, 1951

Double feature screening Sunday 25 June

Memento

Chrisopher Nolan, 2000

Screening Mon 26 June

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

James Mangold, 2023

Screening Wed 28 June

BBBC CINEMA (GALLERYGALLERY BRUNSWICK)

Closed until summer

THE CAPITOL

No Screenings this week

CHINATOWN CINEMA

The Roundup
Lee Sang-yong, 2022
Screening Daily

Elemental

Peter Sohn, 2023

Screening Daily

CINÉ-CLUB (Carlton)

Closed for winter

CINEMANIACS (ACMI)

Interview with the Vampire

Neil Jordan, 1994

Screening Sat 24 June

CINEMA NOVA

Pride on Screen 2023

Joyland

Saim Sadiq, 2022

Screening Daily

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

Laura Poitas, 2022

Screening Daily

Carol

Todd Haynes, 2015

Screening Thurs, Mon and Wed

Winter Boy

Christophe Honoré, 2022

Screening Sat 24 June

Blank Narcissus

Peter Strickland, 2923

+

Pink Narcissus

James Bidgood, 1971

Screening Sat 24 June

Lie with Me

Olivier Peyon, 2022

Screening Sun 25 June

Fire Island

Andrew Ahn, 2022

Screening Sun 25 June

-

In the Mood For Wong Kar-wai Season

Happy Together,

Wong Kar-wai, 1997

Screening Daily

In The Mood For Love
Wong Kar-wai, 2000
Screening Daily

Fallen Angels
Wong Kar-wai, 1995
Screening Daily

Chungking Express
Wong Kar-wai, 1994
Screening Daily

-

Red, White & Brass

Damon Fepulea'i, 2023

Screening Daily

Driving Madeleine

Christian Carion, 2022

Screening Daily

The Last Rider

Alex Holmes, 2023

Screening Daily

Petrol
Alena Lodkina, 2022
Screening Daily

You Hurt My Feelings
Nicole Holofcener, 2023
Screening Daily

One Fine Morning

Mia Hansen-Løve, 2022

Screening Daily

Sweet As
Jub Clerc, 2022
Screening Daily

Saint Omer

Alice Diop, 2022

Screening Daily

Blue Caftan
Maryam Touzani, 2022
Screening Daily

Limbo

Ivan Sen, 2023

Screening Daily

Marlowe

Neil Jordan, 2023

Screening Daily

Infinity Pool
Brendan Cronenberg, 2023
Screening Daily

November
Cédric Jimenez, 2022
Screening Daily

Suzume

Makoto Shinkai, 2023

Screening Daily

EO

Jerzy Skolimowski, 2022

Screening Daily

Broker

Hirokazu Koreeda, 2022

Screening Daily

Of An Age

Goran Stolevski, 2022

Screening Daily

Aftersun

Charlotte Wells, 2023

Screening Daily

DOGMILK DEGUSTATIONS: Season Two @ Miscellenia

Stay tuned for details on details Season 3.

FRENCH FILM CLUB (FINAL SCREENING FOR NOW!)

L'Atalante

Jean Vigo, 1934

Screening Thurs 22 June at Artswest 353 Uni Melb

GAY24

No screening this week

HITLIST (9 Gurtrude St, Fitzroy)

No screening this week

LIDO / CLASSIC / CAMEO

Brazil

Terry Gilliam, 1884

Screening 24 and 25 June at Lido

Red, White & Brass

Damon Fepulea'i, 2023

Screening Daily

Driving Madeleine

Christian Carion, 2022

Screening Daily

The Last Rider

Alex Holmes, 2023

Screening Daily

Watandar, My Countryman
Jolyon Hoff, 2023
Screening Daily

Aftersun

Charlotte Wells, 2022

Screening Daily

THE MELBOURNE CINÉMATHÈQUE (ACMI)

What’s Up Doc
Peter Bogdanovich, 1972

Screening Wednesday 28 June 7pm
+
Squirrels to the Nuts
Peter Bogdanovich, 2012 / 2022
Screening Wednesday 28 June 8:50pm

MELBOURNE HORROR FILM SOCIETY

Body Bags

John Carpenter, 1993

Screening Tues 27 June at Longplay

PALACE BALWYN / BRIGHTON /COMO / KINO / PENTRIDGE / WESTGARTH

Spanish Film Festival

Screening daily - Program Here

Red, White & Brass

Damon Fepulea'i, 2023

Screening Daily

Driving Madeleine

Christian Carion, 2022

Screening Daily

You Hurt My Feelings
Nicole Holofcener, 2023
Screening Daily

One Fine Morning

Mia Hansen-Løve, 2022

Screening Daily

SUN CINEMAS YARRAVILLE

Red, White & Brass

Damon Fepulea'i, 2023

Screening Daily

The Last Daughter
Nathaniel Schmidt and Brenda Matthews, 2023
Screening Daily

THORNBURY PICTURE HOUSE

You Hurt My Feelings
Nicole Holofcener, 2023
Screening Daily (except Tuesday)

The Giants

Rachel Antony, Laurence Billiet, 2023

Fundraiser screening Monday 26 June