Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2023 lineup revealed

The Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival on Monday announced its line-up for the year 2023, with over 250 films spread over 10 days.

The festival will be held at the Jio World Centre, a convention, theatre and concert hall complex in the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai. It will run from October 27 to November 5.

The curation boasts over 40 World Premieres, 45 Asia Premieres, and 70+ South Asia Premieres, with a record-breaking number of 1000+ submissions for the South Asia programme.

The festival promises to spotlight contemporary films and new cinematic voices from South Asia. The main competition at the festival this year is the South Asia Competition. It aligns with the festival's new vision to become a hub for South Asian and South Asian Diaspora cinema and talent. This competitive section aims to showcase breakthrough contemporary South Asian films.

The press conference, hosted at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) in Mumbai, witnessed the festival's illustrious board members. Anupama Chopra, Farhan Akhtar, Rana Daggubati, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Vikramaditya Motwane, Zoya Akhtar, Rohan Sippy, and Ajay Bijli unveil the meticulously curated line-up of the best in global and South Asian cinema.

Artistic Director, Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, Deepti DCunha said, "We are very proud that we have managed to achieve such a diverse curation in our South Asia section within the first year of us expanding our vision to be a festival that is focused on building an ecosystem for new cinematic voices from South Asia and the South Asian Diaspora. This commitment extends beyond film screenings, aiming to facilitate the exchange of ideas, collaborations, and business opportunities while bringing the best of world cinema to Mumbai."

Anupama Chopra, Festival Director, Jio MAMI, said, "with every new edition of the festival, we hope to create a larger impact for all our stakeholders, from filmmakers to audiences. Our commitment to cinema and filmmakers remains at the heart of all that we stand for at the festival, and we hope to emerge as a melting pot of talent from across the world while spotlighting and creating more opportunities for South Asian films and filmmakers."

The festival announced the following key categories (competition & non-competition):

1. South Asia Competition: Through this competitive section, the festival showcases 14 breakthrough contemporary South Asian films in diverse languages.

Highlights: Mithya by Sumant Bhat, Barir Naam Shahana (A House Named Shahana) by Leesa Gazi, The Red Suitcase by Fidel Devkota

2. Focus South Asia (Non- Non-Competition): This section features films from the South Asian Diaspora that highlight and celebrate the diversity of the region. Featuring a potpourri of lengths, languages, storytelling methods, and forms, the films in this section spotlight talent from South Asia and the South Asian diaspora and underline the wealth of narratives that make up the South Asian experience. It includes 46 films across lengths

Highlights: All India Rank by Varun Grover, Pushtaini by Vinod Rawat, Stolen by Karan Tejpal, Mai by Milin Dhamade

3. Icons South Asia: This section features iconic films by prominent South Asian talent.

Highlights: Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam by Anand Patwardhan, Indi(r)a's Emergency by Vikramaditya Motwane, Paradise by Prasanna Vithanage, Something Like an Autobiography by Mostofa Sarwar Farooki

4. Gala Premier South Asia: This section features a selection of the most ambitious Indian films of the year. It showcases established talent and distinct directorial voices from across the country.

Highlights: Kennedy by Anurag Kashyap, Sharmajee ki Beti by Tahira Kashyap, Everybody Loves Sohrab Handa by Rajat Kapoor

5. Marathi Talkies: Launched in 2016, the section showcases the best of contemporary Marathi cinema. Marathi Talkies is a platform for Jio MAMI to showcase a larger selection of contemporary voices from its home region (Maharashtra). This year the section is curated by Sachin Chate.

Highlights: Aatmapamphlet (Auto-bio Pamphlet) by Ashish Bende, Ved by Riteish Deshmukh, Dhekun (Bedbug) by Kshitij Joshi, Vaalvi by Paresh Mokashi

6. Dimensions Mumbai: Dimensions Mumbai was first introduced to Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in 2009 by Ms Jaya Bachchan, and has been one of the most sought-after sections at the festival. Many winning filmmakers at Dimensions Mumbai have gone on to direct feature films and web series.

Highlights: Should I Kill Myself, Or Have A Cup Of Coffee? By Vidar Joshi, Halfway by Kumar Chheda, City of Mirage by Anjani Chadha, Nivedita Rani

7. World Cinema: This iconic section features critically acclaimed cinema from around the world created within the calendar year of the festival.

Highlights: Anatomy of a Fall by Justine Triet, The Daughters of Fire by Pedro Costa, Monster by Hirokazu Kore-eda, In Our Day by Hong Sang-soo, Strange Way of Life by Pedro Almodovar, The Old Oak by Ken Loach, Fallen Leaves by Aki Kaurismaki, La Chimera by Alice Rohrwacher, The Beast by Bertrand Bonello, Maestro by Bradley Cooper.

8. After Dark: Curated by BIFAN's Jongsuk Thomas Nam, the section showcases the most thrilling features from across the world.

Highlights: Oldboy (Restored) by Park Chan-wook, Late Night with the Devil by Cameron Cairnes, Colin Cairnes, Dream Scenario by Kristoffer Borgli, Night of the Bride by Virat Pal

9. Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films: Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films acknowledges the growing importance of the short film format. It aims to celebrate original short films and help aspiring young filmmakers get an opportunity to showcase their work on the large screen. The Perfect Ten competition, which is a part of the Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films, is open to films under 10 minutes made by Indian filmmakers.

Highlights: Badminton by Dibakar Banerjee, Next, Please by Rishav Kapoor, Themb (The Drop) by Shrirang Phatak

10. Restored Classics: The festival is deeply committed to honouring and preserving cinematic legacy. This section showcases digitally restored classic films from India and around the world.

Highlights: Bugis Street by Yonfan, Chocolat by Claire Denis, Millennium Mambo by Hou Hsiao-Hsien

11. MAMI Tribute: This section pays homage to individuals who have contributed deeply to cinema by lending their expertise to the advancement of the art form.

12. Retrospective: Jio MAMI pays homage to great film personalities for their lifetime achievements through the Retrospective section. It brings works from international film history back to the big screen.

13. Recap: The section revisits our selection from 2020 and 2022

Highlights: The Rapist by Aparna Sen, Dostojee by Prasun Chatterjee, A Night of Knowing Nothing by Payal Kapadia .