Pakistani cinema has undergone a quiet but significant revival since the 2010s, producing work that engages seriously with gender, class and identity. Joyland (2022), which became Pakistan's first film submitted for Oscar consideration, is a fine example of that new confidence. See what Macca made of it and more below.
Country Pakistan
I came to Lali as a card-carrying Joyland obsessive, and perhaps that was always going to be a problem. Sarmad Sultan Khoosat's darkly comic Pakistani fever dream, made by many of the same people who gave us that modern masterpiece, is a handsome, ambitious and frequently intriguing
Muslim International Film Festival (MIFF)
The Pakistani writer-director Seemab Gul built her reputation on short films before stepping up to her first feature, and Ghost School arrives with real festival pedigree, having played in the Berlinale's Generation strand and picked up a Crystal Bear nomination. It reaches UK audiences as part of
Rating: 3.5★
There's something genuinely exciting happening in South Asian cinema right now, and Fawzia Mirza's The Queen of My Dreams sits right in the middle of it. I came to this one hot on the heels of watching Joyland, another film that had me completely gripped, and
Genre Romance
★★★½ — Joyland (2022)
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