Deepa Mehta’s upcoming feature Funny Boy has been acquired by Ava DuVernay’s distribution label ARRAY Releasing and will debut on Netflix on Dec. 10.

DuVernay, a lifelong admirer of Mehta’s work, announced the deal via Twitter. “When you get to distribute the latest feature film from one of your cinematic heroes, it is a good day,” said the filmmaker behind feature film Selma, doc 13th and docuseries When They See Us.

The indie film will debut on Netflix in the U.S., U.K., New Zealand and Australia, as well as receiving a theatrical release in Canada and in select international markets.

Funny Boy, shot in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, is an adaptation of Toronto-based Sri Lankan-Canadian author Shyam Selvadurai’s novel of the same name, released in 1994. Set against the backdrop of the impending civil war in Sri Lanka, the story centres on a gay Tamil child who is struggling to embrace his sexuality. The film is co-written by Mehta and Selvadurai and produced by David Hamilton.

The acquisition from ARRAY Releasing comes a little over a year after the company revealed it had picked up the worldwide rights to Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Kathleen Hepburn’s The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open.

Earlier this week, St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival named Mehta as this year’s recipient of the DGC Visionaries Award.