Catch foreign movies at week-long film festival in Mumbai

MUMBAI: On Thursday, the 17th edition of the Mumbai Film Festival, Jio Mami, kicked off at Gateway of India. This weeklong festival will showcase foreign films like ‘The Forbidden Room’ by Canadian director Guy Maddin, ‘Mountains May Depart’, which looks at a Chinese family in three different time periods and ‘The Lobster’ by a Greek filmmaker, which won Jury Prize at 2015 Cannes film festival. Stars like Anupam and Kirron Kher, Alia Bhatt, Katrina Kaif, Hrithik Roshan, and Vidya Balan walked the red carpet. The Indo-Saracenic heritage monument, bathed in pink light, was the backdrop for this glitzy show, which included an introduction to the festival’s various juries, and a witty monologue by emcee Kalki Koechlin.
The international jurors included American director Ava Duvernay, ‘Life of Pi’ actor Suraj Sharma and Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri. Israeli director Amos Gitai received the excellence in cinema award. He spoke about the importance of filmmakers retaining the right to criticise their cultures and countries. “We are not PR instruments,” he said. “I have been both disturbed and inspired by my own country.”
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was the guest of honour for this festival, which was jointly hosted by co-chairpersons Kiran Rao and Nita Ambani. He welcomed guests to the event and went on to say, “For Indians, cinema and cricket are like religion. I am happy that events like this will allow Mumbaikars to enjoy world cinema.”