'Pakistan is very schizophrenic, almost bipolar,' director Saim Sadiq told the outlet in an interview. In 2009, Pakistan legally recognised the third sex, and in 2018 the first transgender passport was issued.
Part of the surprise stemmed from the discovery by many at Cannes that Pakistan is one of the first nations to have given legal protection against discrimination to transgender people. 'Joyland' left Cannes audiences slack-jawed and admiring and got a standing ovation from the opening night's crowd. 'Joyland' beat off several other strong entries, including Close by Belgian director Lukas Dhont and Tchaikovsky's Wife by Kirill Serebrennikov, both hot contenders for the Cannes Festival's top Palme d'Or award which will be announced on Saturday. Past winners of the prize, created in 2010 by critic Franck Finance-Madureira, include Todd Haynes for Carol and Xavier Dolan for Laurence Anyways. 'It makes me sad that the festival is still cold-shouldering the Queer Palm,' Corsini said.
