Mumbai film festival expands horizons

PUNE: A section on puppet films, women cinema, films of cinema legends and unsung heroes of the Indian freedom movement, and a newly-introduced ‘best student film’ award are among the salient features of the 11th edition of Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) for documentary, short films and animation films.
Organised by the Films Division, MIFF will be held at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai, from February 3rd to 9th.
Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, Kuldeep Sinha, chief producer of the Films Division and festival director, said, “Beginning this edition of the festival, the international and Indian competition sections have been merged into one competition section. Indian documentary producers have now achieved high level of creative and technical excellence. They can compete with international entries.”
Sinha added that the award money has also been increased in each category. The best short film or documentary (upto 30 minutes) will be awarded a Golden Conch and Rs 3,00,000 cash prize. Another Golden Conch and Rs 3,00,000 award will be given to the best film and documentary of over 30 minutes duration. There are also awards for best animation film, fiction film and student’s film. Similarly, ‘V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award’ will be awarded to an Indian filmmaker for his or her contribution to documentary film movement.
This year MIFF has received a record 864 entries from 37 countries. A total of 64 films have been selected in the competition section and 43 films have been selected in non-competition section.
“Besides, there will be screening of ‘retrospectives and special packages’, ‘spectrum India’, section on women cinema and puppet films, followed by seminars and an open forum,” Sinha said.