The Writer and Director of Joyland Saim Saadiq joins Mooroo and Daniyal Raheal for a conversation on Film-making and screenplay writing.
00:00 Emotions after watching Joyland
1:02 Initial journey of Film Making
2:00 Intro of Daniyal Raheal and his mother’s reaction after meeting Saim
2:50 1st script of Saim “Dhannoo”
3:40 Prose, interiors and scriptwriting, screenplay writing.
5:05 Did studying anthropology help Saim in film-making?
7:15 On acting and directing actors
10:02 Casting for Joyland
11:03 Darling: The short film that preceded Joyland
11:40 Taking Darling to film festivals
13:25 Showing Mujra/Theatre transparently
14:12 How cast, specially Ali Junejo acted.
17:15 Sania Saeed and her grace
18:11 Saim’s techniques in motivating cast
20:22 Some big scenes and its BTS
21:38 Saim’s passion for films-watching and making
22:35 Exposition in Film
24:16 The 7 Years it took to write Joyland
26:10 Maggie Briggs the co-writer for Joyland
27:02 17 drafts of script for Joyland and the concept behind it.
29:20 Drafting the main characters in scripts/scenes
32:01 Timed script writing
37:00 Beginning and end- Linear Non-Linear
39:20 Cinematography
41:00 DoP-Joe Saadiq
42:06 Saim’s inspirations
43:48 Saim’s opinion on the Triangle of Sadness
45:16 Relatable, fascinating and unlikeable movie characters
46:58 Character development in movies
47:30 Inspiration from stories and novels
49:46 Embedding tragedy
51:45 The butchered version of Joyland
53:30 Cannes film festival experience
55:52 Malala Yousafzai's support for Joyland
57:50 Saim enjoys directing more than the fame
58:30 Mooroo and Raheel’s script writing
59:30 Poster and look book with Salman Toor’s painting
1:01:50 Salman’s artistic skills
1:02:40 Picasso’s and Ismail Gulgee's Artwork
1:04:00 How Saim is writing these days?
1:06:10 How Saim’s father got Jamaat-e-Islami to watch Joyland
1:07:45 Rating movies in Pakistan
1:09:12 Screening of Joyland in other countries and theatrical release
1:11:00 Raheel and Mooroo were moved after watching Joyland
1:12:10 Manipulating cast but taking their feedback for script
1:14:42 Salman Peerzada on the set
1:15:22 Saim's advice to upcoming film-makers “Make what you want to make”
1:17:00 Recent Pakistani movies
1:18:05 The Legend of Maula Jatt
1:19:40 Budget of Pakistani movies
1:20:26 Filmmaking in Karachi vs Lahore
1:21:22 Thank you and Good bye
From Wikipedia:
Saim Sadiq is a Pakistani screenwriter and director who won the Jury Prize of the Un Certain Regard section at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival for directing the drama film Joyland, the first Pakistani film to be selected in Cannes. Joyland also won the Queer Palm award during its world premiere at Cannes.
Sadiq grew up in what he describes as a "middle-class, conservative family" in Rawalpindi. He attended St Mary's Academy in Lalazar, Rawalpindi. He graduated with a BSc with honors in anthropology from the Lahore University of Management Sciences in 2014. He obtained his MFA in Screenwriting and Directing from the Columbia University School of the Arts in 2019.
His first short, Nice Talking To You, was an official selection at SXSW 2019, Palm Springs 2019, and was a BAFTA Shortlist for Best Student Film. He also won Vimeo’s Best Director award at Columbia University Film Festival along with the Kodak Gold Award.
For his Columbia film school thesis, he explored the world of trans dancers in the short Darling, which won the Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film in the 76th Venice International Film Festival. It was also the first Pakistani film to screen and win an award at the Venice Film Festival and received special jury mention at SXSW and was an official selection at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival before being acquired by Focus Features.
Sadiq said that his filmmaking has been inspired by his upbringing and discovery of a transgender community in Lahore that is only a 10-minute ride from his childhood home.