Pakistan’s ‘Joyland’, banned in the country, may still be Oscar-qualified.Courtesy, France

Pakistan’s ‘Joyland’ is about to qualify for an Academy Award for its emergency plan.

A country entry for the 2023 edition of the Oscars, the film will have seven days of theatrical screenings in France through French distributor Condor Films.

“The Oscar qualifier pre-release has been confirmed at Aix-en-Provence Cinema Mazarin and Renoir, one of France’s top 10 arthouse cinemas,” said Condor Films. deadline“It will be broadcast at 18:00 every day for a week from 22nd November. It will then be released nationally in France on 28th December.”

The move is part of the strategy team’s attempt to qualify the film by adhering to Academy rules requiring candidates to be screened in a country other than their country of origin for at least seven days.

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This provision means that the film can compete in the international film category. He needs a week of release in the US to be in any other category.

However, the deadline for qualification is November 30th, so there is limited time for a film to qualify.

Originally, the film was to be submitted to the awards ceremony without issue as it was granted a censorship certificate by Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on 17 August, but the decision was reversed. The board said the film contained “highly objectionable” material.

Pakistan is also unable to retroactively select another film to submit.

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Director and co-writer Saim Sadiq has expressed frustration at having his Instagram banned, and asked fans for support.

“Please help us by getting our voices on #ReleaseJoyland seen and heard by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Minister @marriyum_aurangzeb @shehbazsharif,” he captioned the post.

He called the sudden reversal “absolutely unconstitutional and illegal.”

“Joyland” tells the story of Haider, the youngest member of the Lanas family and a backup dancer, who falls in love with a transgender woman named Viva.