Barbie suspended for questionable content in Pakistan

The authorities of the Punjab province, in the east Pakistansuspended the screening of the film ‘Barbie’ in their cinemas due to the inclusion of “questionable content” and ordered it to be reviewed by a committee of the censorship board, management sources told EFE this Saturday.

The recording was “sent to the commission for review. After that, it will be prohibited or it will be shown in cinemas with some censored fragments“, the secretary of the Punjab Film Censorship Board, Farrukh Mahmood, told EFE.

The official qualified that his show was “not banned” completely, but temporarily until the “questionable” parts are removed of the film that was released yesterday in the province of Sindh, in the south of the country, and in the capital, Islamabad.

Mahmood, however, did not reveal what content was objectionable to the Punjab junta.

“I haven’t seen it, so I don’t know about the questionable content (…) but I can say it exists.”

Films in Pakistan must be approved by provincial censor boards before showing in cinemas.

Last year, Pakistan banned the screening of the feature film ‘Joyland’, which tells the love story of a young man from a traditional Islamic family and a trans dancer, as “against the standards of decency and morality in the country”.

A veto that contradicted its international success, as the film won the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Festival and the Queer Palm awarded by the competition, in addition to being an official candidate for the 2023 Oscar.

Although the Joyland ban was lifted after a review, its broadcast was still banned in Punjab.

Movie Barbie directed by Greta Gerwig with Margot Robbie as the famous Barbie doll and Ryan Gosling as her boyfriend Ken, It was released worldwide yesterday to much anticipation by fans of the blonde plastic doll.