TORONTO — CBC and Telefilm Canada today announced acclaimed director and screenwriter Deepa Mehta’s new film Funny Boy will have its exclusive world broadcast premiere on CBC and CBC Gem on December 4.
Based on the coming-of-age novel by Shyam Selvadurai about growing up gay in Sri Lanka during the deadly Tamil-Sinhalese conflict, the film is co-written by Mehta (Water, Heaven on Earth, Midnight’s Children) and Selvadurai. Funded by Telefilm Canada and CBC Films, the movie is produced by David Hamilton and Hussain Amarshi. The film stars Brandon Ingram in his feature film debut, Nimmi Harasgama, Ali Kazmi, Agam Darshi, and Arush Nand as young Arjie.
Shot on location and set in Sri Lanka in the 1970s and ’80s, Funny Boy explores the sexual awakening of a young boy named Arjie. As political tensions escalate between the minority Tamils and the majority Sinhalese, the boy comes of age in a society and family that doesn’t embrace differences outside of societal norms.
“My mantra as a filmmaker has always been what one of the great filmmakers of all times, Luis Buñuel, said: ‘When a film is particular, that’s the very minute it becomes universal.’ Funny Boy, set on the island of Sri Lanka in the middle of its long and bloody civil war, is also a film about the power of love,” said Mehta, in a CBC press release. “In many ways, Funny Boy reflects the times of divisiveness we are living in today, where the call for a just society, a call for humanity is what we are all striving for.”
Funny Boy will air on CBC TV and stream on CBC Gem on Friday, December 4 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT). It will be available to stream on-demand in Canada on CBC Gem following its TV broadcast. The film will premiere on Netflix outside of Canada on December 10.
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