by Saim Sadiq
While his wife, Mumtaz, pursues her career as a beautician, daydreamer Haider has been unemployed for some time. With neither job nor offspring, he falls far short of the expectations placed on him by his extended traditional Pakistani family. When one day Haider unexpectedly gets hired as a backup dancer in the show of the charismatic transsexual dancer Biba, his life takes a sudden turn: From initial fascination, a romance soon develops between the two that is as sweet as it is forbidden. In his multifaceted debut JOYLAND, director Saim Sadiq tells an explosive love story set against the backdrop of a patriarchal social order.