Deepa Mehta's new movie 'Funny Boy' disqualified by Academy as Canada's Oscar entry

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science rejected filmmaker Deepa Mehta’s Funny Boy, which was Canada’s submission for the Best International Film at the 93rd Academy Awards. The film was rejected as Funny Boy's dialogues 'contained too much English'. According to the Academy, a feature film cannot contain more than 50 per cent English to be eligible in the Best International Film category. 

Deepa Mehta's new movie Funny Boy disqualified by AMPAS

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A representative of Telefilm Canada, which chairs the pan-Canadian selection committee said that they will be pushing the film for the general entry categories, including Best Picture. It is also revealed that for the international Oscar Awards 2021 submission, the selection committee had chosen two initial films, in case if the first film was rejected. They are now waiting to hear back from the Academy to know about the eligibility of the second chosen movie.

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According to Indian Express, executive director of Telefilm Canada, Christa Dickenson said that even though they were disappointed, they are excited to extend their support for Funny Boy as its journey to the Oscars continues. Deepa Mehta said that although they were surprised by the Academy’s decision, they were ‘more than thrilled’ with Telefilms’ decision to pitch the film in general Oscar categories for Best Picture and other categories. She was surprised that her film was not able to compete in the International Feature category of the Academy, Deepa added.

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Deepa continued to say that she hopes that her film continues to transcend expectations with its story of love, courage and compassion. In 2007, Deepa Mehta’s Water, which is the third feature in her Elements trilogy, was Oscar-nominated in the International Feature Film category. The first film of the trilogy was Earth, followed by Fire, which is the second film.

The Canadian-drama film is set in Colombo, Sri Lanka during the 1970s and 1980s. The storyline explores the sexual awakening of its young lead Arjie, which is played by Arush Nand. It is an adaption of Shyam Selvadurai’s novel with the same title, Funny Boy. The film was broadcasted on December 4, 2020, on CBC Television and was also released for streaming on CBC Gem.

Image Source: ARRAY Twitter

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