Pakistani Film On Transgender Dancer 'Joyland' Makes History, Wins Cannes Sidebar Jury Award

Pakistani film Joyland, which shows a daring portrait of a transgender dancer in the country, has won the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section of the 75th Cannes Film Festival. The movie had earlier received a standing ovation during its premiere at the prestigious film festival.

Standing ovation for ¡°Joyland¡±, directed by Saim Sadiq! #Joyland #Cannes2022 pic.twitter.com/bG3rQRdmxl

¡ª Rose Harlean (@RoseHarlean) May 23, 2022

What is the Pakistani film Joyland about?

The movie is a drama about a Lahore family in the firm grip of deep-rooted patriarchy. The tale of sexual reviolution tells the story of the youngest kid in the family who is expected to produce a baby boy with his wife. He instead joins an erotic dance theatre and falls for the troupe's director, who is a trans woman, played by a real-life transwoman Alina Khan.

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The jury was impressed

Incidentally, Joyland also won the Prix Queer Palm, awarded by Jury chaired by filmmaker Catherine Corsini on Friday.

"It's a very powerful film, that represents everything that we stand for," Queer Palm jury head, French director Catherine Corsini, told AFP.

"'Joyland will echo across the world," Corsini said. "It has strong characters who are both complex and real. Nothing is distorted. We were blown away by this film."

Pakistan's first entry to #Cannes2022, ¡®Joyland,¡¯ in competition for the category ¡®Un Certain Regard,¡¯ received a prolonged standing ovation during its debut screening https://t.co/W4Q01HboDj pic.twitter.com/03hOALZYu9

¡ª Reuters (@Reuters) May 25, 2022

The Un Certain Regard Best Director Award went to the Romanian director Alexandre Belc for Metronom, while the Best Screenplay Prize was bagged by the Israeli-Palestinian director Maha Haj for Mediterranean Fever. Luxembourg actress Vicky Krieps, for her performance in Austrian filmmaker Marie Kreutzer's Corsage, shared the best acting award with French actor Adam Bessa's turn in Nathan Lotfy's Harka. The Un Certain Regard jury was chaired by Italian producer-director-actress Valeria Golino.

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Meanwhile, India's only official entry to the Cannes Film Festival 2022, All That Breathes, a documentary by Delhi-based filmmaker Shaunak Sen, which premiered in the Special Screening segment of the prestigious film festival, has won the 2022 L¡¯Oeil d¡¯Or, the top prize for documentaries.

Congratulations to Indian filmmaker Shaunak Sen for the conferment of ¡®L'Oeil d'or¡¯ award for his documentary ¡°All That Breathes¡± at Cannes Film Festival. I am sure, this will inspire other Indian documentary makers to make it big at the world stage. pic.twitter.com/QHqn3Y4TvD

¡ª Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) May 28, 2022

The 90-minute long documentary revolves around the lives of siblings Mohammad Saud and Nadeem Shehzad, who work out of their derelict basement in Delhi's Wazirabad, to rescue and treat injured birds, especially the black kites.

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