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Updated 23 Dec, 2022

Joyland may have faced trials and tribulations in its home country but to the international community, it was a banger from the start. The film has been shortlisted for the Oscars, the first ever movie to do so from Pakistan.

On Thursday, the Academy released its Oscar shortlists for the 95th Awards for 10 categories. Joyland is among 15 films that made the cut for the best International Feature Film category and will advance to the nomination process. Films from 92 countries and regions were eligible in the category. Last Film Show also made it to the list, India’s second nomination since Lagaan from 20 years ago, according to Deadline.

Other films in the same category include Argentina’s Argentina, 1985, Austria’s Corsage, Belgium’s Close, Cambodia’s Return to Seoul, Denmark’s Holy Spider, France’s Saint Omer, Germany’s All Quiet on the Western Front, Ireland’s The Quiet Girl, Mexico’s Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, Morocco’s The Blue Caftan, Poland’s EO, South Korea’s Decision to Leave and Sweden’s Cairo Conspiracy.

Malala, who recently joined team Joyland as executive producer, dialled up director Saim Sadiq to congratulate him on the milestone and share this “moment of Pakistani pride”.

Joyland’s producer Apoorva Guru Charan re-shared the phone call video and gushed over her “wonderful” team.

Filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, chair of the Pakistani Academy Selection Committee this year, shared the “incredible” news on Instagram and said there is much to celebrate since Joyland is the first Pakistani film on the shortlist, 10 years after the committee was formed.

Interestingly, this is not the first first for Joyland. It was also the first film from Pakistan to make it to the Cannes Film Festival where it won awards and received a standing ovation. Since then, it has been to several international film festivals, earning prestige all over.

Its release in Pakistan, sadly, was a tricky affair. After being cleared by the censor board, it was declared “uncertified” for containing “highly objectionable material” that goes against Pakistani society’s “social values and moral standards”. After facing backlash by celebrities and the public for this decision, PM Shehbaz Sharif formed a committee to review this decision and the ban was revoked. Punjab reinstated the ban in the province though the film was released everywhere else and elicited glowing reviews.

Joyland, you have had a long, tiring journey but that’s how it can be for those who are going places and doing great things. Congratulations!

Comments

Its me Dec 22, 2022 12:12pm
Foreign agenda does attract foreign support.
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Retired Dec 22, 2022 12:20pm
I am not surprised! The "international community" (read G-7 and western world) is always keen on promoting their own cultural values and norms on rest of the world. Anything or everything which advances these narratives are encourages and patronized. Try making a documentary on recently released Pakistani prisoner from Guantanamo Bay, held without trial for around two decades! Or on child victims of drone strikes. I doubt they'll make it to "Oscars" no matter how cinematic or visually crafted!
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Ravi Dec 22, 2022 12:25pm
Pakistani woman wearing Saree in Pakistani movie...!!!
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TPA Dec 22, 2022 12:38pm
Pakistani men are attracted to transgender
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Arshad Dec 22, 2022 12:39pm
How about making a movie on the suffering of the peoples of Iraq, Syria & Afghanistan after senseless wars & winning an Oscar ?
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Adnan Mazher Khan Dec 22, 2022 12:40pm
Anything that brings bad name to Pakistan or our moral cum religious values, gets prominence in western world.
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Mazhar Dec 22, 2022 12:46pm
Pakistan should make films on their Turkish or Afghan Ancestors. Make a film like Ertugul Ghazi which will win Pakistan all th Oscars because Iron brother will also support this.
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John Dec 22, 2022 01:06pm
it might win,
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SMI Dec 22, 2022 01:07pm
And they will get special prize don't worry !!
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Anonymouseee Dec 22, 2022 01:07pm
How about making a movie on Guantanamo detainees illegally confined there for years and nominating an Oscar to it.
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NYS Dec 22, 2022 01:09pm
Local culture and foreign theory made this film top scorer
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Fastrack Dec 22, 2022 01:16pm
This film degrades Pakistani culture
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Shaw Dec 22, 2022 01:18pm
Westernisation of The Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
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Analyst Dec 22, 2022 01:31pm
@Ravi Many women in Pakistan wear it. It's not something strange.
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Anwar Dec 22, 2022 01:51pm
Fabulous news!
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Khanm Dec 22, 2022 01:56pm
Controversy wins the Oscar ....Bitter people are not interested in what you say, but what THEY hide...
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Armagan Dec 22, 2022 01:57pm
@Retired maybe its because mullah inspired stories are not worth watching?
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MZH Dec 22, 2022 02:02pm
People can understand why the west is promoting such films in Pakistan.
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Anwar Dec 22, 2022 02:40pm
@Retired Sir please try making a movie on those subjects and tell us the result of your experiments. Until then let us celebrate a Pakistani movie making it to the biggest of stages.
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Akram Lahore Dec 22, 2022 02:45pm
@Ravi ..it was transgender who wore it in the movie :-D
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Akram Lahore Dec 22, 2022 02:46pm
Congratulations to Joyland team. Very happy wish we win the Oscar!!
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Saifullah khan Dec 22, 2022 03:01pm
what else the west want. You promote their agenda -they are loving it.
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NoName Dec 22, 2022 03:10pm
Don't know why we even consider them as 'allies' we all know anything negative about Pakistan is promptly backed & supported by the West.
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ZK Dec 22, 2022 03:20pm
@Retired Have you watched Mauritanian , a legal drama on Guantanamo Bay.This premise of comparison is irrelevant anyways and undermines the courage and genius of those involved in making of Joyland.
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Khanm Dec 22, 2022 03:22pm
@Ravi ..by the way women wear saree as a uniform in our military establishment ...
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KhanRA Dec 22, 2022 03:26pm
@Retired Why can we not tell a happy story? Must we always be confined to suffering?
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M. Emad Dec 22, 2022 03:27pm
Transgender (Hijra) Love Story.
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Steve Probeck Dec 22, 2022 03:30pm
So much fear in the comments
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NYS Dec 22, 2022 03:34pm
Malala plunge as wild card entry
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MBR Dec 22, 2022 03:49pm
Thanks for feeding the western narratives and destroying our values with these lows like the yearly march.
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Sakeena Raza Dec 22, 2022 04:21pm
Of course It would be! moral degradation is always promoted by the west! Duh!! Higher values and lofty goals that are the hallmark of islam and Muslims will never be promoted - we are headed towards ruin in the name of a liberated society. Sadly, we are promoting slavery to base desires and to the ‘new-world-order’ ideology. Pathetic and asinine- so disgusted. ideology.
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Chandra Shekar Dec 22, 2022 04:26pm
@Retired Oscar is an American academy . You don’t expect them to champion non-western narratives. What is stopping you from creating your own academy?
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Sam Dec 22, 2022 04:28pm
One word for it all "disgusting"
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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Dec 22, 2022 04:40pm
Get rewarded by dancing at the tunes of others.
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pakpaki Dec 22, 2022 04:53pm
This is good news. Pakistani culture has already been sabotaged by Arabs and Westerners. Joyland, whether good or bad, represents the reality of our culture and heritage, not what our elites and extremists want it to become.
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avtar wasson Dec 22, 2022 05:27pm
Good news for South Asian film makers.
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kash Dec 22, 2022 05:41pm
@Fastrack but you afraid to tell the world it exists.
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JaaliSher Dec 22, 2022 05:46pm
I knew it will be nominated even before it got released. I mean just read the plot. From shermain chinoy to this, there is certainly a trend
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AH Dec 22, 2022 07:02pm
You can see how this all works with foreign agenda
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Rubab Dec 22, 2022 07:21pm
Congratulations
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A Bostonian Dec 22, 2022 08:08pm
@Adnan Mazher Khan sorry to say but there are hardly any religious values left as everything is practiced openly and shamelessly, that is prohibited in Islam.
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Khalid iqbal Dec 22, 2022 08:24pm
Make a film about the lgbt in Pakistan , it will get all kinds of Oscar from the so called enlightened media , make a movie about the poor and starving , and how they are manipulated , you will earn the scorn of the Oscars .
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Jamil Soomro, New York City Dec 22, 2022 08:42pm
@M. Emad In Dacca Bangla Desh there is a huge Transgender population and they are called "Hijras".
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Jo Original Dec 22, 2022 10:29pm
@Chandra Shekar You need to watch Iranian movies made in Iran that have won Oscars.
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Jo Original Dec 22, 2022 10:31pm
There are closet gays all over Pakistan. Wake up and realise this.
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Hanif Dec 23, 2022 01:05am
I haven't seen the movie but I just want to say one thing, its easy to make a movie on a subject which is hot in West and get award, as long as you show that our country is backsword and people of Pakistan are backwards, because they cannot endorse the justification of west.
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NK Dec 23, 2022 02:04am
@Its me Absolutely correct. This agenda was propagated world over and was started by the Obama government and foreign NGOs in our country funded and brainwashed us to the core to enforce it.
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Ma Dec 23, 2022 06:41am
This Pakistani film will win. Anything that can promotes LGBTQ in Muslim world will get the recognition. Edhi didn’t get the Nobel peace prize but Malala did, because her award supported a certain narrative about muslim world . Anyone who sees those two in light of their merit should think again
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Fareed Dec 23, 2022 09:51am
Let’s put politics and west east differences aside, why transgenders are discriminated in this country at after all they are human beings.
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Nadeem Shah USA Dec 23, 2022 10:27am
@Retired it's their awards, they can decide whatever suits them obviously, you can make your own awards.
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