"There is a surprising amount of English in the film. Technically, the film still qualifies for the Oscars (hopefully) in the Best International Feature Film. You would have to break down the film to know whether the film contains less than 50% in English. Some English makes sense in context but so much is lost with the poor audio. There are quite a few conversations that switch mid-sentence between English and Tamil." — Our December 10 review
"(Deepa) Mehta told the Straight, "I’m proud of the fact that 50 percent of this film is not in English." If that is literal, Canada's entry might be denied by the Academy. Likely, Mehta meant at least 50 percent." — Our October 29 story
Only 2 weeks after Funny Boy made its world debut on CBC and 8 days after the debut on Netflix, the Academy of Motion Picture of Arts and Sciences disqualified Funny Boy as Canada's entry in the Best International Feature Film category because of too much English in the film. Nominees for the Oscars category must have "a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track."
According to a representative for the Oscars, Funny Boy came in at 37%. The academy said the 109-minute film had 12 minutes, 27 seconds in Tamil or Sinhala and 20 minutes, 58 seconds in English.
Telefilm Canada likely anticipated such as a concern and submitted 2 films. The other film is under review by the Academy and will be announced shortly.
Telefilm Canada says Funny Boy will now be submitted in other Academy Awards categories, such as best picture and best screenplay. Any Canadian film can be submitted for Oscars consideration, though that has rarely happened in Oscars history. The Sweet Hereafter and Away From Her have been grand exceptions. Parasite showed a film can win Best Picture and Best International Feature Film.
Lionheart from Nigeria suggests Academy Awards reconsider language for best international feature film
The Academy has disqualified a number of films for having too much English, such as Listen (Portugal) earlier this week and Lionheart (Nigeria) last year.
A follow up to our Funny Boy Canadian film review
Canadian film review: Funny Boy
Our Funny Boy preview with debuts soon on CBC and Netflix
Deepa Mehta's Funny Boy is Canada's Oscars selection
Telefilm Canada clearly anticipated such a possibility. Funny Boy looked and felt rushed as a nominee, pushed forward in the hopes of sneaking past the Academy requirement. The film could have used a lot more post-production, a 2021 release, and submitted as a regular film not eligible for Best International Feature Film.
Telefilm Canada considered 11 films. Nadia, Butterfly is the logical pick and was the odds-on favourite. That Shelf previously compiled a number of possibilities, though the list hasn't been updated in case there are changes to any qualifying concerns.
CanadianCrossing.com film reviews
CanadianCrossing.com film coverage
The move could be seen as genius or embarrassing to end up with a second choice for Canada for the Best International Feature Film. The Best International Feature Film shortlist will be announced on February 9. The shortlist of 10 films gets narrowed to 5 official nominees on March 15. The 93rd Academy Awards is scheduled for April 25.
photo credit: Funny Boy film
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