MUMBAI: Essel Group and Subhash Chandra-owned Fun Republic Entertainment and Multiplex Centre will host the seven-day annual Mumbai film festival scheduled to take place from 20-27 November 2003.
Fifteen films in any Indian language, including English, and made by Indian directors will compete for the first time at the 6th International Film Festival (IFFM) organised by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Images (MAMI).
Indian Oil brand Servo will sponsor the event along with other brands like Kodak. Nearly 100 films from 40 countries are expected to participate in IFFM. The festival will offer over 70 hours of viewing every day.
This will be the first film festival to introduce competition for Indian feature films with an international jury. The international jury will comprise five members. It is mandatory that the feature films entering the competition are completed after 1 January 2002.
According to an official press release, the director of the best film will be given a trophy and a cash prize of Rs 100,000 while the producer will be given a certificate and Rs 75,000. A special jury award consisting of a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 75,000 will be given to a film or to an individual's artistic contribution to a film. If the award is given to a film, then the special jury award will go to the director of the film.
"We are introducing a competitive section this year for Indian feature films to encourage Indian participation in the international film circuit," said noted filmmaker and chairperson of IFFM, Shyam Benegal. "IFFM is a tribute to the glorious city of Mumbai, and is a commitment made by MAMI to introduce and expand the Mumbaikar's horizon to include the latest trends in international cinema," he added.
This seven-day event is divided into eight sections - competition for Indian films, world cinema, retrospectives, filmmakers in focus, focus on one country, homage, special screenings and film India worldwide.
In addition, there is also an open forum titled 'Chauraha' where one can interact with film personalities. Seminars and exhibitions on different aspects of cinema will provide cinema lovers an opportunity to appreciate the film culture of different countries.
Awards presented at IFFM include the FIPRESCI award, a 'lifetime achievement award' presented for outstanding contribution to Indian cinema; the Kodak award for technical excellence and an award for 'significant contribution to Indian cinema' presented to a film personality who has made a recognisable contribution to Indian cinema for over 25 years.
CMG-RE, a leading entertainment industry solutions provider, will be organising, marketing and managing the seven-day event. This is the first time that MAMI has entrusted the task of marketing and managing the event to an external professional agency. CMG-RE will bring in its expertise to raise the profile of the event, expand the audience profile and involve a greater cross-section of Mumbai.
The Mumbai Academy is a public trust comprising 12 permanent trustees, many of them practicing filmmakers. Their dedication and love of film enables MAMI to continuously strive to become a repository and resource that will encourage the growth and development of cinema, the release stated.
The trustees of MAMI are Shyam Benegal (chairman), Govind Swarup (managing trustee), Kiran Shantaram (secretary), Manmohan Shetty (treasurer), Ramesh Sippy, Amit Khanna, Govind Nihalani, Jaya Bachchan, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Yash Chopra, Yash Johar and Bobby Bedi.
