The Water director has adapted Sri Lankan-Canadian author Shyam Selvadurai’s classic 1994 coming-of-age novel, about a gay Tamil child who is struggling to embrace his sexuality during the period leading up to Sri Lanka’s civil war.

Funny Boy will debut on Netflix on December 10. When They See Us director Ava DuVernay announced the news on Thursday. DuVernay and Tilane Jones are releasing the film via their distribution company Array Releasing.

Mehta co-wrote the Funny Boy screenplay with Selvadurai and shot the film on location in Sri Lanka.