Quote:
"Funny Boy is based on a beloved book of the same name by Shyam Selvadurai, a Sinhalese/Tamil/Canadian novelist. Even though the book is popular and taught at universities in Sri Lanka, when it came time to make it into a film we faced massive resistance from the authorities. The producer David Hamilton and I, along with the film team (our local Sri Lankan producer) spent nearly a year trying to get permission to film the script. It was rejected twice by the government agency that green lights 'foreign' films. We got lucky with some key allies like David McKinnon and Asoka Handagama, who became staunch supporters and never let us give up."
-- Deepa Mehta

Source:
Ramos, Dino-Ray. "ARRAY acquires Deepa Mehta's adaptation of 'Funny Boy', filmmaker talks women of color taking award season spotlight." Interview with Deepa Mehta. Deadline, October 15, 2020.