JOYLAND Discovery

U.S. Premiere

Screening to be followed by a conversation with director Saim Sadiq and producer Apoorva Guru Charan.

In his ravishing feature debut, Pakistani filmmaker Saim Sadiq astutely observes a patriarchal, lower-middle-class family’s hesitant explorations of desire and intimacy. When Haider (Ali Junejo), the affable but directionless second son, lands a gig as a background dancer in a contemporary courtesan act led by a transgender dancer, Biba (Alina Khan), little does he anticipate the sexual rebellion he will ignite at home, particularly affecting his maverick makeup artist wife, Mumtaz (Rasti Farooq). By turns ebullient, piercing and melancholic, JOYLAND shifts between the modalities of a “respectable” Muslim family’s living room and a rambunctious, erotic center stage. With production design of piquant greens and dance numbers of defiance, Sadiq’s drama interrogates gender and sexuality via a unique ensemble structure and is a highlight among recent queer cinema. –Ritesh Mehta