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In the first trailer for “Funny Boy,” which is directed by Deepa Mehta and is released by Ava DuVernay’s Array, we explore the sexual awakening of a young boy in 1970s and ’80s Sri Lanka just as political tensions will bring the country to a boiling point.

“Funny Boy” is based on the Canadian novel by Shyam Selvadurai and spans across a decade as it follows Arjie (played by both Arush Nand and Brandon Ingram at different ages) as he comes of age in a society and family that don’t embrace differences outside of societal norms.

The film chronicles Arjie’s struggle to find balance and self-love despite the absence of empathy and understanding, and it’s all happening as the fight between the minority Tamils and the majority Sinhalese rages on.

Mehta’s film on Thursday was announced as Canada’s official selection for the Best International Feature Film at the 2021 Oscars,...

Deepa Mehta’s “Funny Boy” will represent Canada in the race for best international feature film at the 2021 Oscars.

Based on the best-selling novel by Shyam Selvadurai, the film follows a young boy’s sexual awakening in Sri Lanka during the turbulent Tamil-Sinhalese conflict leading up to the civil war. Ava DuVernay’s Array Releasing picked up the film for distribution earlier this month, with a Netflix release planned for Dec. 10, as revealed by Variety.

Mehta’s film “Water,” the third feature in her Elements trilogy, was Oscar-nominated in the international feature film category in 2007.

“Eleven outstanding films were submitted this year, and we are confident that Deepa Mehta’s ‘Funny Boy’ will appeal to Academy members just as her powerful film ‘Water’ did in 2007, when it was nominated in this prestigious category,” said Christa Dickenson, executive director of Telefilm Canada.

Telefilm coordinates and chairs — without voting right — the pan-Canadian...

Deepa Mehta’s latest film, an adaptation of Shyam Selvadurai’s Sri Lanka-set coming-of-age novel “Funny Boy,” has been picked up by Ava DuVernay’s Array Releasing, and will land on Netflix this December, Variety can reveal.

The Oscar-nominated “Earth” and “Midnight’s Children” director wrote the screenplay for the film alongside Selvadurai, whose debut 1994 novel is set in Sri Lanka during the 1970s and 1980s and was ground-breaking in its discussion of identity politics against the backdrop of escalating conflict between the island nation’s Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority.

Shot on location in Colombo, the film explores Tamil protagonist Arjie’s (Arush Nand/Brandon Ingram) sexual awakening from a young boy, deemed “funny” by disapproving family, to a teenager enamoured by a male classmate, just as political tensions escalate between the Sinhalese and Tamils in the years leading up to the 1983 uprisings — violence that led into a 26-year civil war.

The rapturous response to the unveiling of “Nomadland” at the Toronto and New York Film festivals has catapulted director Chloé Zhao’s new film as an instant Oscar contender for Best Picture, Actress, Director, and Cinematography. The film’s subtle and moving score by Ludovico Einaudi has also received positive notices, but “Nomadland” and the Italian composer will not qualify for Best Score this awards season.

The reason is simple: Einaudi did not write the “Nomadland” music specifically for the film. Zhao used tracks from his previous albums, with much of it coming from a 2019 seven-album collection titled “Seven Days Walking.”

The music was inspired by hikes the prolific composer took in the Italian Alps. According the film’s press notes, Einaudi followed the same hiking path for seven days, but opened “himself up to the different emotions and stimuli he experienced while negotiating changing light, temperature, wildlife and weather conditions.