JioMAMI is back with Mumbai Film Festival, and the lineup looks better than ever

At Wednesday’s press conference for Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival , thanks were given again and again, and again. Thanks to festival director Anupama Chopra; thanks to co-chairpersons of Mumbai Academy of Moving Image, Nita Ambani and Kiran Rao; thanks to the Maharashtra government; thanks to Star India and PVR; thanks to Regal cinema; thanks to MAMI’s board of trustees that includes Dibakar Banerjee, Vishal Bharadwaj and Siddharth Roy Kapur. All this gratitude could have sounded forced, but it didn’t. For everyone present at the press conference and for thousands of cinephiles, there was good reason to give thanks. Not only has the Mumbai Film Festival lived to see its 17th edition, but this upcoming festival promises to be a phenomenal feast. Full disclosure: I’ve been closely associated with the World Cinema section of this year’s festival. As someone who has been a MAMI regular for almost as long as the festival has been around, it’s been a privilege to work backstage this year. This has also meant that I’m viscerally aware of the fact that without the support of all those who were being thanked yesterday, this festival wouldn’t have happened. [caption id=“attachment_2460200” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy will be screened at JioMAMI Mumbai Film Festival. Image from Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MumbaiFilmFestival/photos_stream[/caption] The triumphant reality is that with Jio and Star India backing MAMI, the real stars of the festival — the films — are shining brighter than ever. To all those who think I’m saying this because I’ve watched approximately 400 films over the last eight months, take a look at what this year’s Mumbai Film Festival is bringing to a cinema near you. Between India Gold, Discovering India, Dimensions Mumbai, India Story and Restored Classics, there’s a chance to see some of the most exciting talents of Indian cinema. There are films like Island City, Thithi and Chauthi Koot, which come home after drawing critical praise in prestigious film festivals like those held in Venice and Cannes. It’s a chance to see Hansal Mehta’s Aligarh, which got a standing ovation when it was recently screened at Busan Film Festival. Independent films like _Kaul (_Marathi), Song of the Horned Owl (Bodo) and _Mor Mann Ke Bharam (_Chhatisgarhi) show just how rich the world of cinema beyond Hindi is. There’s a rare opportunity to see Guru Dutt’s iconic Pyaasa on big screen as well as Chetan Anand’s Neecha Nagar and the beautifully-restored Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray. For those interested in documentaries, the Canadian documentary film festival Hot Docs is bringing over films like Unbranded (directed by Angelina Jolie) and _Monty Python: The Meaning of Live (_directed by Roger Graef and James Rogan). There are also some amazing documentaries in the other sections, including For the Love of a Man (on Rajinikanth fans), Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words and He Named Me Malala. Junun, shot in Rajasthan and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, will also be showing. Finally, World Cinema brings you the best of international, independent cinema. In competition are 15 films by first-time directors that will leave you spellbound. A few of these have won praise in other festivals, like Volcano and Land and Shade. Most of them are hidden gems, like Interruption, Kaili Blues, Songs My Brothers Taught Me. In a rare coup, this year JioMAMI has the top winners of Berlin, Cannes and Venice film festivals: Taxi, Dheepan and From Afar. The list also includes critically-acclaimed titles like Arabian Nights, The Assassin, Blood of My Blood, The Forbidden Room, The Club, Aferim! and The Lobster. There are barely any films that are missable this year, which means tough choices await festival delegates in 20 days. On the plus side, the chances of coming out of a film feeling dissatisfied are very low. To help you with your difficult choices, Firstpost’s critics will give you their picks and tell you more about the films in the coming days. May the force be with us all. The 17th JioMAMI Mumbai Film Festival will run between October 29th and November 5th. To register, click here . To see the complete list of films, click here .