Saim Sadiq's 'Joyland' clinches Acting Prize at Palm Springs Film Festival
'Joyland', Pakistan's entry for the Oscar's this year, added another accolade to its repertoire. Actor Ali Junejo, who plays Haider, won the FIPRESCI Acting Prize, according to the festival website. The award was announced on Sunday and the news was shared on the official 'Joyland' and the festival's social media accounts as well.
The festival shared the news with the following words about Junejo's performace:
"We award the Best Actor Prize to Ali Junejo in Joyland for his intimate, thoughtful and nuanced performance as Haider, a man grappling with his diverging sense of self and familial responsibility. Junejo emerges as the film’s most flexible and dependable performance owing to his generosity and earnestness with each cast member, both in behavioral and linguistic choices.
"His ability to convey the ambivalent paradoxes of Haider, while delivering a performance of such searing clarity and empathy recalibrates the vivid textures of Joyland away from the social realism of its larger goals, turning it into an evocative character study in a performance of quiet complexity."
Junejo shared the honour with Oksana Cherkashyna. He shared a statement on the festival YouTube channel about his win stating, "I remember when we were making this film in Gawal Mandi, we just wanted to tell this story as honestly as possible. And look at where we are; the fact that I am doing this, the fact that we are shortlisted for the Academy Awards, it is the most amazing thing."
Thanking his fellow actors and the cast and crew, he further shared how "These characters have found such a place in my heart and I know all of us feel that way. I hope anyone who watches this also thinks the same."
The 34th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) announced this year’s juried award winners on January 15, with the festival slated to take place from January 5-16. The festival screened 134 films from 64 countries, which included 27 premieres.
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The line-up included 35 of the International Feature Film Oscar submissions along with Talking Pictures, New Voices New Visions, Modern Masters, Queer Cinema, Cine Latino, True Stories, World Cinema Now and more.
The jury award categories included the FIPRESCI Prize for films in the International Feature Film Oscar submissions program.
Last week, the film was further shortlisted by the Academy in the Best International Feature Film category, down to 15.
The film was announced as Pakistan's official entry for the 95th Academy Awards in September last year.
Along with collecting accolades on the festival circuit since its debut at the Cannes Film Festival, the film also boasts an elite selection of executive producers spanning Malala Yousafzai, Jemima Khan and most recently oscar winning actor and producer Riz Ahmed.
Oscar winning actor, producer Riz Ahmed joins 'Joyland' as Executive Producer
'Joyland' tells the story of the youngest son in a patriarchal family who joins an erotic dance theatre and falls for the troupe's director, a transperson.
The movie features Alina Khan, Ali Junejo, Rasti Farooq, Sarwat Gilani, Salman Peerzada, and Sania Saeed.
The film's release in Pakistan was mired in controversy as it was banned due to "objectionable" material, causing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to order a review. Following minor edits, the film has now been released.
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