Malala Speaks Out on Pakistan’s ‘Joyland’ Ban: ‘Too Often In My Country, We Expect Art to Serve as Public Relations’
At a certain point last month, someone in London or Los Angeles could listen to Arooj Aftab’s music in their AirPods, tuck Taymour Soomro’s debut novel “Other Names for Love” into their bag and head out to a screening of Saim Sadiq’s film “,” where outside the theater they would pass a movie poster featuring a painting by Salman Toor.
Debut writer and director Sadiq’s “Joyland” was the first Pakistani film selected to screen at Cannes, where it won a prestigious jury prize. After standing ovations from film festival audiences around the world, Pakistan selected it as their official Oscar submission. On Nov. 18, “Joyland” was scheduled to open in the country where it was made — a long-awaited homecoming for the cast and crew, and a chance for Pakistanis to celebrate a film ranked among the best in global cinema.
“Joyland” is not activism posing as art; it doesn’t argue for a particular point of view or issue a call to action. The film treats each character with compassion, from the ageing grandfather imposing his will on his family to the young wife who wants more than the men around her are willing to give. It’s a film about the ways in which patriarchy hurts everyone — men, women and children. It’s a film about the healing powers of female friendship and solidarity.
Too often in my country, we expect art to serve as public relations. Tired of seeing negative portraits from the rest of the world, we want stories that cast ourselves as unequivocal heroes. The most popular films feature male leads vanquishing their mortal enemies and female characters who exist only in context of their romantic relationships. A numbness sets in as we collectively decide we would rather believe the fantasy than look in the mirror.
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