October end to host two film festivals in India
Brillante Mendoza
Film fanatics’ worldwide will be in for a sweet surprise when two film festivals will run across New Delhi and Mumbai at the end of October.
The 11th Osian’s Cinefan festival will run from October 24 – 30 in New Delhi and will highlight contemporary Indian, Asian and Arab cinema. This is also the eleventh year for the 11th Mumbai Film Festival to be held from October 29 – November 5 presenting a 360° panorama of world and Indian cinema.
11th Osian’s Cinefan Festival will open with the Romanian film “Hooked” starring Adrian Sitaru while the closing film will be “Waltz with Bashir” by Israeli filmmaker Ari Folman. The jury for the festival includes many acclaimed film personalities like Suresh Jindal; associate producer for “Gandhi.” Mani Kaul is the chosen festival director.
Hindi film industry is growing by leap and bounds and therefore Cinefan has decided to hold a special exhibition depicting the history of Indian cinema featuring posters and other memorabilia. The “Newstream Cinema” section will screen films of offbeat Indian film directors such as Vishal Bharadwaj whose recent release “Kaminey” has garnered rave reviews and critical acclaim.
The Mumbai Film Festival has been organized by Mumbai Academy of Moving Images (MAMI) and will screen 200 films from 56 countries with the opening film being Matt Damon’s “The Informant.”
Veteran Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos’s “The Dust of Time” will be the closing film as he also will be honored with The Lifetime Achievement award.
Actor Shashi Kapoor will also be awarded the Lifetime Achievement award while Director-Producer Yash Chopra will be commemorated by the International Federation of Film Producers Association. A flashback will be presented of Actor Amitabh Bachchan 40 yearlong career.
The jury members for the Mumbai Film Festival include film personalities like Hollywood screenwriter/director Paul Schrader, Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, Philippine filmmaker Brillante Mendoza, Indian filmmaker Shaji N. Karun and former director of the Locarno Film Festival Irene Bignardi.
Awards of US$ 100,000 will be given away to Debutant Directors in the category of International Competition for Directors.
Veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal is the Chairman of MAMI with Yash Chopra, Reliance Big Entertainment Chairman Amit Khanna and Actress Jaya Bachchan on the trustee board.
Brillante Mendoza’s ‘Kinatay’ was such an amazing film! Would they be screening it at MAMI?
That’s a sure treat for film buffs! You will get see a wide range of movies that are very typical of Hollywood/Bollywood. Specially those that absorb and project reality on screen.