The youngest son in a traditional Pakistani family becomes a backup dancer in a Bollywood-style burlesque and falls in love with a trans woman.
In the heart of conservative, metropolitan Lahore lives the lower-middle class Rana family. As the Ranas eagerly anticipate the birth of a baby boy to continue their family line, the youngest son Haider secretly takes up a job as a background dancer at an erotic theatre where he is drawn to an ambitious trans starlet, Biba. Slowly yet suddenly, Haider is engulfed in a secret summer romance with Biba which surreptitiously takes over his home—posing a challenge for the entire Rana family.
Banned by the Pakistani government despite its critical acclaim and reception of two prizes at Cannes, Joyland is a boundary-breaking and highly necessary film.
- DIRECTOR: Saim Sadiq
- CAST: Rasti Farooq, Sarwat Gilani, Ali Junejo, Alina Khan, Salmaan Peerzada, Sohail Sameer, Sania Saeed
- LANGUAGE: Urdu with English subtitles
