Written, directed and produced by Iram Parveen Bilal in collaboration with Joy Ganes and Ilana Rossein, ‘I’ll Meet You There’ is a Pakistani-American film starring Qavi Khan, Faran Tahir, Nikita Tevani, Sheetal Sheikh and Samrat Chakrabarti.
Initially released in 2020 at various international film festivals, ‘I’ll Meet You There’ was all set to hit the big screen in Pakistan this month. Unfortunately, Pakistan’s Central Board of Film Censors (CBFC) banned the film a week before its release, saying that “it does not reflect true Pakistani culture, portrays a negative image of Muslims” besides also being against “social and cultural values of Pakistan”.
This film banned in Pakistan was selected for SXSW’s narrative feature competition that took place in 2020. The film’s team disclosed the news with disappointment, with the director saying that ‘I’ll Meet You There’ “was made with blood, sweat and tears by a Muslim, financed by Muslims and made in the face of a post 9/11 world and a Trump presidency”. The director also mentioned that contrary to what the censor-board thinks, the film was made with the purpose of fighting against Islamophobia and to bring before the world, a positive image of Muslims.
A lot of Pakistanis including popular actors have been left dismayed at the decision, especially when several Muslims outside Pakistan have already watched the film and have favored it a lot.
