Mumbai Film Fest to screen 200 films

Around 200 films from 56 countries will be screened in the eight-day 11th annual Mumbai Film Festival (MFF), to be held here from October 29. The festival, which will be inaugurated by Information & Broadcasting (I &B) Minister, Ms Ambika Soni will have five sections, including Feature Films of first time Directors, with a cash prize of USD 1,50,000. 'Indian Frame' will showcase the best 15 Indian films over the last year, 'Reel Real' on feature lenght documentaries, 'Above the Cut' will feature 14 first feature films of extraordinary merit and 'World Cinema' section which will screen the most anticipated films from festivals across the world.

The judges panel include Hollywood screenwriter & director ('Taxi Driver', 'Raging Bull', 'American Gigolo'), Philippine filmmaker Brillante Mendoza, Shaji N Karun (India) and former Locarno Film Festival director, Irene Bignardi. Also expected in the panel is Iranian filmmaker, Jafar Panahi who was detained by Iranian authorities on October 15. The films in the competition catagory will viewed across eight screens at Fun Cinemas, Metro Big Cinemas, Big Cinemas R City. '' Mumbai Academy of Moving Images (MAMI), which is organizing the festival, will introduce a B2B lounge whereby local filmmakers can interact with the top 10-12 non-mainstream Hollywood movies buyers across the world. The sizeable prize for first-time directors is to attract talented filmmakers and put MFF in the world's film fest calender '' stated MAMI Trustee member Amit Khanna at a function here today.

The festival which has a budget of around Rs seven crores will have other activities like open forums, ''Dimensions Mumbai''- short film competition, ''Young Critics Award'' and ''Silver Gateway of India'' trophy.

The festival will also give Lifetime Acheivement Award to actor-producer Shashi Kapoor. Iconic Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan will also be honoured alongside screenwriter & director, Paul Schrader. Tribute will be paid to legendary filmmaker B R Chopra with a screening of his ''Naya Daur''.

'' The idea was to have a film festival that all Mumbaikars could be proud of. This is a festival that is not organized by the government, but by the film fraternity from all streams. We want the festival to be raised to a level where it will have a place of pride in Indian cinema and in the history of Mumbai,'' said actor & MAMI Trustee member, Amol Palekar. '' We have to make the MFF a habit. Nothing like watching the magic of a movie in a cinema. MAMI would also like to thank Ms Tina Ambani who as a former actress understood our aims and made it possible for Reliance Big Picture to sponsor a major part of the expenses, '' added actor, activist & MAMI Trustee member, Shabana Azmi.

-- (UNI) -- 20BY25.xml

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