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Mumbai Film Festival

17th edition of Mumbai International Film Festival
Mumbai Film Festival known as MFF is held every year in Mumbai and needs no introduction in itself. It is organized by the (MAMI) i.e. Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image. It is widely acclaimed film festival in India and over the globe.

The concept of Mumbai film festival was conceived by the late Hrishikesh Mukherjee in 1997. He started a nonprofit Trust named as the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image. The whole effort was intended to make an effort to organize and celebrate a Film Festival at International level which proves to be a matter of pride for the entire nation and the Indian Film industry itself.

MAMI aims to nurture a climate of serious cinema. Dropping down the labels commercial and art cinema, it was aimed to foster and appreciate the good cinema and that could only be achieved by going thoroughly and having a complete exposure to the best films across the national boundaries from the world over.

Actor, producer and author Priyanka Chopra Jonas  is the Chairperson of MAMI in 2021

Trustees of MAMI, India

  • PRIYANKA CHOPRA JONAS Chairperson
  • NITA M. AMBANI Co-chair
  • ANUPAMA CHOPRA Festival Director
  • AJAY BIJLI Chairman & MD, PVR Ltd
  • ANAND MAHINDRA Chairman & MD, Mahindra Group
  • ANJALI MENON Filmmaker
  • FARHAN AKHTAR Filmmaker
  • ISHA AMBANI Director, Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail
  • KABIR KHAN Filmmaker
  • KAUSTUBH DHAVSE Independent Public Policy Advisor
  • RANA DAGGUBATI Actor
  • RITEISH DESHMUKH Actor & Producer
  • ROHAN SIPPY Filmmaker
  • SHIVENDRA SINGH DUNGARPUR Filmmaker and Archivist
  • SIDDHARTH ROY KAPUR Founder and MD, Roy Kapur Films
  • VIKRAMADITYA MOTWANE Filmmaker
  • VISHAL BHARDWAJ Filmmaker
  • ZOYA AKHTAR Filmmaker

This renowned film festival in Mumbai is covered as nine sections in total, namely, Dimensions Mumbai, Retrospectives, World Cinema, Above the Cut, First Feature Films of Directors, The Real Reel, International Competition for the First Feature Films of Directors and New Faces in Indian Cinema.

The festival aims at honoring and upbringing new talents from all over the world. For this purpose feature films of directors at international level are that are made within the same year before the film festival commences. These films from the world over are evaluated under International Competition for the First Feature Films of Directors.

The section named as "World Cinema" is meant for the screening of the films that are the best, critically acclaimed in other film festivals of international level, have proved themselves at the technical and commercial level and are the award winners.

The section names as "Indian Frame" is basically meant to showcase the best of Indian films to the global audience. This helps in gaining and networking with co-producers, foreign delegates and directors from the world over. Best films that are produced within the same calendar year before the start of the film festival are considered for the screening.
17th edition of Mumbai International Film Festival
The "Dimensions Mumbai" has proved to be a boon by providing a platform for those young people who belong to Mumbai, are less than 25 years of age, are media professionals and want their work related to films to be noticed.

In the year 2010 a new section for competition was introduced. It was aimed to promote the full length feature films, short films, documentaries and ad-films that are aimed at presenting the fun and happiness that increases with the increasing age.

The best films that prevailed in the bygone era and are yet afresh in the hearts of the young generation are treasured in the section named as the “Retrospectives ". You can definitely feel the nostalgia and the charm of these magical retrograde films. While the "non-competitive section” is aimed at showcasing the films which left out of the International Competition for the First Films of Directors. It includes only the first films of the Directors.

Under "New Faces in Indian Cinema", young, dynamic and emerging directors from India are provided with a platform to screen and showcase their First and second feature films. Whereas the “Reel section” aims at showcasing the best of the feature films and documentaries that have won awards and gathered acclaim for presenting a strong opinion or view related to some social cause, the lives of people and many such related topics.

The tentative dates of the festival 17th edition of Mumbai International Film Festival are 11th March to 15th March 2022.

Juries and Categories of Mumbai Film Festival

Juries for International Competition for the First Feature Films of Directors

HANY ABU-ASSAD Head of Jury- Hany Abu-Assad is a Palestine-born filmmaker. He entered the world of cinema as a producer with the feature film Curfew (1994) before he went on to direct several feature fiction and documentary films. The fictional Paradise Now (2005), about two Palestinian men preparing for a suicide attack in Tel Aviv, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language film.  

JULIE HUNTSINGER- Executive Director of TFF Julie Huntsinger has helped propel the Colorado based festival to the top ranks of international film festivals over the past thirteen years. 

MARK ADAMS- Mark Adams is the Artistic Director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, joining the festival in 2015. He was Chief Film Critic for film trade paper Screen International and as a film journalist and reviewer for more than 25 years he has written for Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and Moving Pictures International, as well as many national newspapers in the UK. 

VETRI MAARAN- Vetri Maaran is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and film producer, who works in the Tamil film industry. He made his directorial debut with the critically acclaimed Polladhavan (2007).

There are other Juries as well

  • Juries for Dimensions Mumbai
  • Juries of Harmony Celebrate Age
  • Juries of India Gold 2013

Also, the 'Films Division', Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. Of India, organizes a Film Festival for Short, Animation and Documentary films and it is known as MIFF. The venue for the festival is National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai.

Contact Details of MAMI

Address: Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI), 201, Roopmangal, G-52, Corner Of Main Avenue and 16th Road, Santacruz West, Mumbai 400054, India
Phone: 022 2600 5700
Webiste: www.mumbaifilmfestival.com
Email: info@mumbaifilmfest.com

Also Read: NCPA Mumbai | Lalbaugcha Raja | Kala Ghoda Festival | Ganpati in Mumbai

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