AceShowbiz - Academy Awards bosses have rejected Canada's submission for Best International Feature Film because the movie features too much dialogue in English.

Canadian officials submitted Deepa Mehta's "Funny Boy", an adaptation of Shyam Selvadurai's 1994 coming-of-age novel of the same name, for consideration in the category, previously known as Best Foreign Language Film, as both Tamil and Sinhalese are spoken throughout the picture, which was shot on location in Sri Lanka.

However, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) representatives have declared the movie is ineligible because they believe more than 50 per cent of the lines are in English.

A spokesperson for Telefilm Canada, the organisation which made the selection, is now submitting "Funny Boy" for a variety of other awards, including Best Picture, while they are awaiting feedback on the eligibility of their second choice for Best International Feature Film.

Director Mehta says, "We were surprised that the film was not able to compete in the Academy's International Feature category, but then were equally surprised and more than thrilled that Telefilm decided to support the submission of the film for Best Picture and other categories at the Academy Awards."

"My hope is for Funny Boy to continue to transcend expectations with its story of love, courage and compassion."

Adds Christa Dickenson, Executive Director of Telefilm Canada, "Although we were disappointed when informed by the Academy, we are excited to extend our ongoing support for Funny Boy as the journey to the Oscars continue (sic)."

Nominations for the 93rd annual Oscars, which were delayed by two months due to the coronavirus pandemic, are expected to be announced in March, ahead of the ceremony on 25 April (21).