Funny Boy rejected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on the grounds that it doesn’t have enough of dialogue in Tamil and Sinhala languages
The Canadian Bazaar
TORONTO: Deepa Mehta’s Funny Boy has been rejected for Oscar nomination in the best International Feature Film category at the 93rd Academy Awards .
The Indo-Canadian filmmaker has co-written and co-directed the film that tells the story of a gay Tamil boy growing up during the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka during the 1970s and 1980s.
Telefilm Canada has been informed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that Funny Boy does not meet the Academy’s eligibility requirements for the International Feature Film category due to the amount of English dialogue in the film.
To be a contender in this category, the film must be produced outside the US, with more than 50 per cent dialogue in a foreign language.
According to the Academy, Mehta’s one hour and 49 minutes long film has only 12 minutes and 27 seconds of Tamil or Sinhala dialogue.
Telefilm Canada says the film will now be submitted for consideration in the Best Picture and general entry categories.
“Although we were disappointed when informed by the Academy, we are excited to extend our ongoing support for Funny Boy as the journey to the Oscars continue,†said Christa Dickenson, Executive Director of Telefilm Canada.
In reaction Deepa Mehta said, “Every step of the way on the Funny Boy journey, has been an important one for myself and the Funny Boy team. The message of the book has always been one of resilience and courage. It seems as if the afterlife of the film follows a similar arc. Each time we reached an impasse, we pushed on leading us to something even better than we could have imagined.”
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She added, “This is the heartbeat of Funny Boy, reflected through our beloved Arjie — a graceful determination to be the very best version of ourselves no matter what the obstacles are; to break down preconceived ideas and to shed light into shadows.
“We were surprised that the film was not able to compete in the Academy’s International Feature category, but then were equally surprised and more than thrilled that Telefilm decided to support the submission of the film for Best Picture and other categories at the Academy Awards… My hope is for Funny Boy to continue to transcend expectations with its story of love, courage and compassion.â€
In place of Funny Boy, the Academy is now considering another film submitted by Telefilm Canada in this category.
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