Interview with Deepa Mehta
Wednesday, March 20 / 6:30 pm / Ottawa Art Gallery

Deepa Mehta in conversation with Malini Guha, Associate Professor of Film Studies at Carleton University

This program is presented in partnership with Carleton University School For Studies In Art and Culture: Film Studies.

Screening of Funny Boy
Wednesday, March 20 / 7:45 pm / Ottawa Art Gallery

Program: Funny Boy
Guest: Deepa Mehta, Officer of the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario

Note: Click ‘Order Ticket’ for either event and see the option to order tickets to both for $20.

Interview \

Since arriving in Canada in 1973 from her native India, Deepa Mehta has reshaped contemporary Canadian cinema, exploring the complexities of the immigrant experience, the challenges for equality and justice for women in society, and the beauties and shortcomings of Canada’s multicultural society. A Governor General’s Award Winner and Oscar-nominated global artist, Mehta is prolific, working in Canada and internationally. From her over 20 feature films to her extensive directorial experience in television, she has assembled an incredible body of work. We are honoured to have Deepa Mehta as our 2024 Canadian Masters guest artist.

Come and hear Deepa Mehta discuss her extensive career, her remarkable and award-winning films, her approach to filmmaking, and her experiences in a career that has spanned many decades making feature drama, documentary, and series television in Canada and abroad.

Interviewer: Malini Guha, Associate Professor of Film Studies at Carleton University

Feature presentation \

separation \ love \ war

In the politically divided country of Sri Lanka in the late 70s, eight-year-old Arjie is a “funny boy” in his Tamil family who prefers to play dress up with the girls than cricket with the boys. Fortunately, Arjie has his aunt Radha as an alternative to his strict father who enforces gender roles. Radha paints Arjie’s toes (a joyful secret, she calls it) and encourages him to join the cast of the play she’s also in. A child, Arjie cannot understand why dancing is only okay for girls or why Radha should be ashamed of her Sinhalese boyfriend. The cruel realities of family obligation, patriarchy, and racism come crashing down on Arjie as his favourite aunt marries a Tamil man she doesn’t love and disappears from his life. At seventeen, tensions are still rising between Tamil and Sinhalese as Arjie attends a new school and faces prejudice in the classroom. His safe harbour is his Sinhalese classmate Shehan, who, like Arjie, knows he is gay in a country where it is illegal. The two begin their love story in a country on the cusp of war, taking the risk of being together. The winner of the 2021 Canadian Screen Awards for Best Direction and Adapted Screenplay, Funny Boy is a richly beautiful film of love and turmoil.

- Tish Black

This program is presented in partnership with Carleton University School For Studies In Art and Culture: Film Studies.