Pakistani trans film 'Joyland' makes history at Cannes Film Festival
A still from 'Joyland'
The 75th edition of Cannes has just wrapped up and this year's festival turned out really special for the Pakistani film 'Joyland'. The movie which made history was country's first entry in the competition. The film haswon two awards at this year's festival.
The film won the Cannes "Queer Palm" prize for best LGBT film and the Jury Prize in the "Un Certain Regard" competition.
Helmed by debutant director Saim Sadiq, the movie tells the story of a man who comes from a patriarchal family joinsa dance theatre and falls in love with a transwoman.
Reacting to the movie, "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."
The film which stars Rasti Farooq, Alina Khan and Sarwat Gilani,received positive reviews from the critics and it also received a standing ovation at the premiere at Cannes Film Festival.
"A dream has come true" Reacting to the standing ovation, Gilani told Reuters "It felt like the hard work that people do, the struggles that we face as artists in Pakistan, they`ve all come to be worth it.''
(With inputs from the agencies)
