Firstpost Picks: Films to watch on Day 1 of Jio MAMI 19th Mumbai Film Festival

The 19th edition of the Jio MAMI film festival is finally here, and there is so much to look forward to if you’re a cinephile with unusual tastes! From off-beat Indian stories to international films that you may never have heard of, the festival can expose you to many types of cinema.

The lineup is extensive, and the thought of checking out each film can be exhausting, so Firstpost will provide you with a list of must-watch films that will help you narrow down your choices, every day.

Bhasmasur

Nishil Sheth describes his film as being a story of people on the periphery. In it, a villager called Dhaanu considers selling his donkey in the city so that he may get some money to pay off a moneylender. His son, however, is extremely attached to the donkey. The trio set off for the city together, and the film chronicles the events that take place on the way.

Wajib

This film is Palestine’s official selection for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Oscars in 2018. It is the third film by Annemarie Jacir which is being picked for the prestigious award ceremony. In this comedy-drama, which is also a road movie, we get a look into the wedding preparations that are on in the run up to Christmas in the holy city of Nazareth.

mother!

There’s nothing like the joy of watching a film before it can get a wide release and gloating about it to your friends. Darren Aronofsky’s psychological horror-thriller stars Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem in the lead roles. It tells the story of a couple who move into an old, decrepit house. Their lives are turned upside down when strangers, who the husband seems to have invited, come to visit.

Loving Vincent

There has probably never been as heartfelt a tribute to the Impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh than Loving Vincent, a film made entirely out of paintings. It has the honour of being the “world’s first fully oil-painted feature film”, and 125 painters from across the world worked on 65,000 frames for it. Chris O’Dowd, Saorise Ronan, Jerome Flynn, Helen McCrory, and Aiden Turner are part of the voice cast.

Oh Lucy

This American-Japanese comedy-drama received rave reviews at film festivals such as the Cinéfondation jury at Cannes, but very few know that it started out as director Atsuko Hirayanagi’s film school project. It stars Shinobu Terajima and Josh Hartnett and captures the unlikely love story between a Japanese woman who decides to take English classes and her instructor. She develops feelings for him, and after he leaves unexpectedly, she follows him to South California.

Ralang Road

Set in Sikkim, Karma Takapa’s centers on two young boys who fidget their way into an affair between a local woman and a non-Sikkimese teacher at their school. It also delves into the rising tension between people who belong to the state and outsiders. The director has said that his film portrays the duality of the state through dark visuals as well as humour which he has used to contextualise Sikkim.