Queer Kahaniyaan Film Series: ‘Joyland

Experience three powerful films centering queer stories from Kashmir, Pakistan, and the South Asian diaspora—'Trans Kashmir,' 'Joyland,' and 'The Queen of My Dreams.' This series invites South Asian and LGBTQIA+ community members in Williamstown to gather, reflect, and imagine new possibilities together. This student-curated series features one documentary and two feature-length films highlighting queer stories specifically in Kashmir, Pakistan, and the South Asian diaspora: Trans Kashmir (2022) (April 29), Joyland (2022) (April 22), and The Queen of My Dreams (2023) (May 6). Together, these films offer layered portrayals of queer identity, resistance, and belonging. The film series aims to foster a sense of community for South Asian and LGBTQIA+ folks around Williamstown, offering a space to connect, reflect, and imagine new ways of being together. This series is organized by Williams College Museum of Art Student Program Assistant Tashfa Zafar and is free and open to the public at Images Cinema. 'Joyland' (2022): As a patriarchal family yearns for the birth of a grandson to continue their family line, their youngest son secretly joins an erotic dance theatre in Lahore and falls for its transgender starlet. Their impossible love story slowly illuminates the entire Rana family’s desire for personal rebellion.