Mumbai: With less than a month to go for the 17th edition of India's biggest film festival, the 17th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in association with the STAR Network, announced its stellar program line-up. The line-up included new programming sections being introduced this year, special screenings and events.
The 17th edition of the festival will take place from October 29 to November 5 in Mumbai. The festival's presenting sponsor is Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIL) - and STAR India is the Associate Sponsor Partner.
Mrs Nita M Ambani, Founder and Chairperson, Reliance Foundation was announced as Co-Chair, Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI). The announcement was made in the presence of members of the Board of Trustees that include Kiran Rao, Chairperson – MAMI, Anupama Chopra - Festival Director, filmmakers Dibakar Banerjee and Vishal Bhardwaj, Mr. Ajay Bijli, Chairman and MD, PVR Ltd, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Managing Director, Disney India, Manish Mundra, Founder and CEO, Drishyam Films and Gayatri Yadav, Executive Vice President Marketing and Communications, STAR India.
"We are thrilled to announce that Jio MAMI 2015 will present two Excellence in Cinema awards – one to an international personality and one to an Indian. I'm also kicked to announce that our international Excellence in Cinema award will be given to the iconic Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai who has created landmark films and won laurels around the globe including two Palme D'Or nominations. Our Indian Excellence in Cinema award will be given to two legendary screenwriters who changed the course of Indian cinema and created several classics – they are none other than Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar. We are also introducing a special section called 'Half Ticket' for kids, which will have an exciting slate of children films from around the world," said Kiran Rao, Chairperson, 17th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in association with Star India.
Mrs Nita Ambani, Founder and Chairperson, Reliance Foundation and Co-Chair, MAMI Board of Trustees, said, "I am honoured with the appointment and the faith that the MAMI Board of Trustees has reposed in me. I thank them for inviting me to be a part of this movement that will showcase the best of Indian and world cinema."
Mrs Ambani further added, "Jio MAMI deserves to be recognised as one of the best film festivals in the world. We are convinced that Jio will have a lot to do with films, and films will have a lot to do with Jio.”
Uday Shankar, CEO, STAR India said, “Star India believes in content that inspires a billion imaginations and moves the nation forward and MAMI is all about celebrating the joy of cinema. By supporting this festival we want to do our bit to fuel imagination that we all know has the power to change the world.”
Announcing the stellar programme line-up for the festival, Anupama Chopra, Festival Director, 17th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival said, "We are here because of the generosity of many people. Foremost among them is Jio and our associate sponsor – STAR India. And I also want to thank our third partner – the Government of Maharashtra. Our aim is to create a movie-soaked week in which you can see the best of Indian and international cinema. We want to foster a cultural exchange, enable conversations and shape a cinematic sensibility.”
Leading filmmaker, Dibakar Banerjee, said, "I really wish Jio MAMI a great success this year as it is a cultural icon of the city. It aims to be the gateway to Indian cinema. This year, the festival received an unprecedented 248 feature film submissions in 29 languages, including Pashto, Wanchu and Jaunsari. The selection of Indian films includes 14 World Premieres, and 17 India Premieres. Audiences at Jio MAMI will get a chance to watch 31 Indian films that have never been shown before in India. Thirteen films are competing for the best film award in the India gold section. There are 15 fiction features and five documentaries in the India story section.”
Announcing a new section, After Dark at the 17th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, Niharika Bijli, Director, PVR Pictures said, “The journey for MAMI, the Mumbai Film Festival and the multiplexes started back in 1997 and now in its 17th year, PVR Cinemas will not only encourage the home-bred cinemas, but will also provide the best in world cinema. All this have been possible with PVR’s association with MAMI from past many years and have been very successful. Genre films are a mainstay in world cinema, and, “After Dark” is one of the sections of the festival. It will bring a fantastic genre films to Mumbai and these are horror, thriller, science fiction curated by Jongsuk Thomas Nam, who is the artistic director of one of Asia’s biggest genre film fests PIFF in South Korea. We have six films in this section, which is opening with Ludo, made by Qaushiq Mukherjee.”
“I am thankful to Anu and Kiran who literally saved the festival. As Anu said, Jio MAMI is an inclusive movie feast as everyone looks forward to it. Our international tribute is to the great French director Agnes Varda, who was given the honorary Palme d’Or this year. Varda, who directed her first film in 1955, is also known as The Grandmother of the New Wave. Our Indian tribute is to Chetan Anand who celebrates his 100th birth anniversary this year. We think of Chetan Anand as the man who made the great war film 'Haqeeqat'. But his contribution to Hindi cinema goes far beyond that.” said leading filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj.
Announcing a very special event being organised for the first time at the Festival, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Managing Director, Disney India, said, “Anu and Kiran have done an incredible job driving the festival. They have given Bombay the festival they deserve. The grand finale this year at Jio MAMI is the MAMI Movie Mela– a one-day celebration of cinema. On October 31, when you walk into Mehboob Studio, you will enter a different world – a world of movie characters, movie merchandising, movie books, dvds and above all, movie conversations."
Smriti Kiran, Creative Director of the festival said, "This festival is the hardest thing I have done but when I meet someone who says that MAMI changed their life, all the blood and sweat makes sense. Our vision is to make sure that Jio MAMI is an exemplary experience for all its stakeholders from delegates to filmmakers to sponsors to studios to young talent, guests and continues to alter lives the way it has."
Members of the Board of Trustees unveiled the Festival's new trophy that has been created by celebrated jewellery designer Nirav Modi.
"At NIRAV MODI, we are committed to the pursuit of excellence that transcends time and are excited about this collaboration with MAMI. I find a sense of harmony in movement, the flow of a story, and the images which make a film. The award represents an ode to movie-makers that are able to capture moments and emotions and immortalize them in film," said Nirav Modi, Founder, Nirav Modi.
Starting May 15 when the call for entries were announced, the 17th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival received an unprecedented number of entries for the movies this time. The jury members selected the best films and have taken a decision to screen nearly 190 films in feature/documentary/short films categories.
What’s new at the 17th JIO MAMI Mumbai Film Festival!
The India Story
India is a cauldron of diversity. Indian Feature films reflect that and every region within India has a specific film culture. This section brings forth the cinematic vibrance of the country. Traversing through various languages and forms in India, the films in this section will highlight talent from different regions. The films programmed will be a journey into the heart of India.
Half Ticket
Half Ticket is being introduced at the festival for the first time as a treat for the children of Mumbai. The most outstanding and imaginative live action, animation and documentary features and shorts from across the world will compete for children's Jury awards. Children will also learn filmmaking from renowned directors and writers at a special interactive session at the festival.
The aim of this section is to showcase and award ground breaking work produced for young audiences aged 6 to 16, in the hope that exposure to high quality and diverse films from across the globe will help develop a finer sensibility for all kinds of cinema and create future audiences.
After Dark
Jio MAMI is delighted to announce a fantastic film section for the first time in the history of film festivals in India. The Fantastic film genre is an evolving piece across the world and enjoys a cult following in keeping with the tonality and texture of these films. The films that push the envelope, oscillate between the unbelievable and the absurd, fantastic cinema is about all things extreme that stretch the your imagination. We will curate and program seven films in this section that will be an introduction to the Indian audience to this kind of cinema.
Young Critics Lab
A lab for aspiring film writers and critics. Jio MAMI Mumbai film festival’s Young Critics lab is an attempt to hone and mentor future film journalists of the country. Two day workshops over three months running up to the festivals will be conducted that cover colleges all across Mumbai. These workshops with chosen journalism students from Mumbai will be mentored by Meenakshi Shedde this year. Meenakshi will select 20 students for the final workshop. This final workshop will be conducted by a renowned film critic and writer Peter Bradshaw. The students will then write for the length of the festival and the best out of the lot will win the critics award at the festival.
These workshops aim to create a breed of writers and critics that are shaped by the rich experiences and knowledge of the most credible and successful personalities in the field. The idea is also to create a pool that serves as a hiring ground for publications around the country.
Mumbai Film Mart
On Friday, October 30, the festival will host a ‘Mumbai Film Mart’ which is a unique space created to bridge the gap between content creators and content platforms. Good content is crippled and stays unknown without dissemination and distribution. The gap between filmmaking and distribution is one that is screaming to be bridged. But as content has diversified so have the platforms. In this one day market, the festival programmers will curate 25 complete Indian projects. It trains the makers of the content to design 5 minute pitches that need to be made which could help sell their films better. And it brings content platforms from studios, distributors, VOD hubs, airlines, digital destinations, television channels, production houses, regional channels under one roof to hear these pitches and bid for the films.
Movie Mela
And now for the grand finale – this year, Jio MAMI introduces The Jio MAMI Movie Mela – a one-day celebration of cinema. On October 31, when you walk into Mehboob Studio, you will enter a different world – a world of movie characters, movie merchandising, movie books, DVDs and above all, movie conversations. We will have some our leading directors and actors at Mehboob Studios talking about their work and life. Rishi Kapoor will do a masterclass. Rajkumar Hirani and Abhijat Joshi will talk about creating blockbusters. Alia Bhatt will be there. So will Parineeti Chopra, Arjun Kapoor, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Ayushmann Khuranna and many more exciting names. Jio MAMI’s new media partners The Viral Fever (TVF) will give you a little glimpse into what to expect.
Young Adult Workshop
On Monday, November 2 and Tuesday, November 3, a ‘Young Adult Workshop’ will take place under the able guidance of leading filmmakers like Imtiaz Ali, Zoya Akhtar and Avinash Arun. The workshop aims at imparting knowledge on the nuances of direction, editing and production of films. This section will be a part of the Children’s where young children will be mentored.
Other important announcements that were made:
• Hansal Mehta’s ‘Aligarh’ featuring Manoj Bajpayee and Rajkummar Rao will be the opening film
• Ava DuVernay, Academy Award Nominated Director for ‘Selma’ will be the head of the international jury
• Internationally renowned film critic from The Guardian, ‘Peter Bradshaw’ will be conducting a two-day workshop for young critics
• Restored version of ‘Apu Trilogy’ by Satyajit Ray will be screened as part of the “Restored Classics” section at the festival
• In the special Tribute (Indian) category, films of renowned producer/director Chetan Anand will be showcased
Along with Co-Chairs, Mrs Nita Mukesh Ambani and Kiran Rao and Festival Director Anupama Chopra, the members of the new Board of Trustees of MAMI are filmmakers Farhan Akhtar, Zoya Akhtar, Karan Johar, Vishal Bharadwaj, Vikramaditya Motwane, Dibakar Banerjee, actors Riteish Deshmukh and Deepika Padukone, Anand Mahindra, Chairman & MD, The Mahindra Group, Ajay Bijli, Chairman and MD, PVR Ltd, Siddharth Roy Kapur, MD, Disney and Manish Mundra, Founder and CEO, Drishyam Films. These eminent personalities, outstanding achievers in their respective fields, are bringing together their expertise and experience to give Mumbai and India a bigger, better and even more exciting 17th edition of the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.
The 17th Jio MAMI's Mumbai Film Festival will be held in Mumbai from October 29 to November 5, 2015. The film screenings will take place at PVR Juhu, PVR Citi Mall, Andheri, PVR LP, Phoenix Mills, PVR Ghatkopar and Regal-Colaba. To attend the festival, viewers can register online at http://in.bookmyshow.com/mami/ or visit registration counters at the festival venues listed above.
JIO MAMI VISION 2015
The Mumbai Film Festival is an inclusive movie feast. We showcase the latest cutting-edge, independent cinema - art house fare alongside genre movies from Bollywood and Hollywood and cult international movies. We offer the best of world cinema to the people of Mumbai and we offer the best of Indian cinema to the world. The festival is run by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image popularly known as MAMI. This is a space where we revel in the sheer pleasure of cinema, the joy it gives us and how much it enhances our lives. The goal is to nurture and ignite a passion for movies. We want MAMI to be shorthand for excellence in cinema.
About JIO MAMI
Mumbai - the financial capital of India is also the epicentre of the Indian film industry. The city plays such a major role in production and dissemination of Indian films and television programmes that it is widely known by its acronym 'Bollywood'. In 1997, a group of film industry stalwarts headed by late Hrishikesh Mukherjee founded the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) as a not-for-profit Trust. Their main objective was to organise an annual International Film Festival which the film industry and the country could be proud of. MAMI has been organising the festival for the last 16 years and aims to foster a climate of good cinema. MAMI engages people from all walks of life across the city and country who enjoy and love good cinema. It is Mumbai’s only film festival that is entirely created and run by film professionals and a group of members from corporate India. Appreciation of good cinema, stripped off all the limiting labels of art and commercial, can only come about through exposure to the best of films the world has to offer. The Festival is the first step in that direction.
In their Mission Statement in 1997, the MAMI Board of Trustees said, "We feel it is the need of the hour to disseminate and inculcate good cinema among Indian audiences. The only way to achieve this is to celebrate cinema by hosting an International Film Festival in Mumbai, India's film and entertainment capital. MAMI (Mumbai Academy of Moving Image) is committed to start Mumbai's first independent international film festival organized by practicing film makers."
For more information on MAMI and the upcoming 17th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival scheduled to be held from October 29- November 5, 2015, do visit our MAMI Website, Twitter handle, Facebook Page, Instagram and YouTube as follows: Website: www.mumbaifilmfestival.com
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