The government of Pakistan has stopped the release of Saim Sadiq’s Oscar contender “Joyland” for containing “highly objectionable” material.
An order dated Nov. 11 from Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting says that the country’s censor board had granted a censor certificate to the film on Aug. 17. But it has since reversed the decision.
“Written complaints were received that the film contains highly objectionable material which do not conform with the social values and moral standards of our society and is clearly repugnant to the norms of ‘decency and morality’ as laid down in Section 9 of the Motion Picture Ordinance, 1979,” the order states. “Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 9(2) (a) of the said Ordinance and after conducting a comprehensive inquiry, the Federal Government declares the feature film titled ‘Joyland’ as an uncertified film for the whole of Pakistan in the cinemas which fall under the jurisdiction of CBFC with immediate effect.”
The ban has caused outrage on social media with citizens denouncing the decision.
Actor Nadia Jamil has shared things we can do to put pressure on the government to help Joyland:
Use the hashtag #releasejoyland on Twitter every time you tweet about the film.
Tag the following accounts on Twitter every time you post: @MoIB_official (ministry of information and broadcasting) @marriyum_A (Marriyum Aurangzeb)
Call Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and demand that they stand up to pressure from people looking to malign the film. 051 9103557 9211800 9213649.
