Gay romance films also give those that can’t come out the closet for a multitude of reasons, a sense of hope and reassurance that what they are feeling is normal and they should feel no shame – even if some societies and cultures may try to shame them. This in turn plays a part in creating a more accepting and educated society that is less likely to stare or react negatively to seeing a gay couple in public. They help normalise and destigmatise loving relationships between same-sex couples. In my opinion, gay romance movies are incredibly important to society. This made me feel so much more invested and emotionally connected to what I was watching, something I am sure every gay person has felt when they have finally seen themselves portrayed in the media.
“Her singular vision for adapting this best-selling novel invites film lovers to delve deep into themes of identity, acceptance and family, while she shares the majesty and turmoil of Sri Lanka during this particular time in history.I’ve always enjoyed romantic movies but it wasn’t until I watched my very first gay romance movie that I truly ‘‘got it’’ and felt all the emotions you were meant to feel when watching a romantic film.Īfter years of watching heteronormative films, I could finally relate to the characters and to the gay romantic storylines playing out on screen. “Deepa Mehta’s Funny Boy builds upon the iconic filmmaker’s provocative canon of work as a film that is beautiful to the eye and emotional for the heart,” said DuVernay and Jones in a joint statement. “The call for a just society, a call for humanity is finally being heard.” “In many ways, Funny Boy reflects the times of divisiveness we are living in today,” Mehta said in a statement. Suffice to say, reconciliation on that island isn’t going so good. A decade prior, he led the Sri Lankan Armed Forces in what has been described as a genocide against Tamil people. Last year, Sri Lankans elected Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who has been accused of war crimes, as president. Funny Boy covers everything from the neighbourhood racial hostilities, systemic labour discrimination, brutal vigilante attacks, and finally Black July, the 1983 Anti-Tamil pogrom that killed up to 3,000 people. Funny Boy more resonant than everĪs the film’s protagonist Arjie (portrayed by Arush Nand as a child and Brandon Ingram as a teen) makes sense of his sexuality, he also navigates the hostilities between his wealthy Tamil family and the community that surrounds them in Colombo. Selvadurai is half-Tamil, half-Sinhalese. That war is the reason myself, Selvadurai’s family and hundreds of thousands of Tamils sought refuge in Canada. But it also wades deep into the tensions between the Tamil and Sinhala communities in Sri Lanka, which gave way to a devastating 26-year war. It’s a story about gay self-love, first and foremost. Funny Boy could be controversial, and not only because the film is about embracing homosexuality.
We’ll see if she’ll be welcomed back after her provocative new film. Mehta has since shot Water, Midnight Children, and Funny Boy in Sri Lanka.
The director sought refuge in Sri Lanka after Hindu fundamentalists protested and ransacked the Indian set of Water in 2000. It’s far from her first trip to the country. Mehta co-wrote the Funny Boy screenplay with Selvadurai and shot the film on location in Sri Lanka. Array has already built a remarkable roster with films like The Burial Of Kojo, Residue, and Canada’s The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open. DuVernay and Tilane Jones are releasing the film via their distribution company Array Releasing.įor years, Array’s brand has been seeking out authentic BIPOC voices and stories and giving them a platform. When They See Usdirector Ava DuVernay announced the news on Thursday. The Water director has adapted Sri Lankan-Canadian author Shyam Selvadurai’s classic 1994 coming-of-age novel about a gay Tamil child who is struggling to embrace his sexuality during the period leading up to Sri Lanka’s civil war.įunny Boy will debut on Netflix on December 10. The film is a union between two mighty South Asian artists from Toronto. The new Deepa Mehta film, Funny Boy, has found a home on Netflix.