MAMI opening ceremony celebrates cinema stalwarts

From Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam to Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Vishal Bhardwaj attended the opening ceremony of the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. In her opening address, Priyanka Chopra, the chairperson of the Mumbai Film Festival, highlighted the significant contribution of women in cinema. She expressed the festival's commitment to acknowledging the pivotal role of women both in front of and behind the camera.The opening night featured Hansal Mehta's film "The Buckingham Murders," starring Kareena Kapoor.The Excellence in Cinema Award (International) was bestowed upon Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino and Mani Ratnam. After their felicitation at the restoration workshop organised by Film Heritage Foundation in Delhi, Aruna Vasudev and Uma da Cunha were honoured at the ceremony with Nasreen Munni Kabir.The jury for this year's Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival's South Asia Competition includes Academy Award-nominated director Mira Nair as the Head of Jury, David Michod, acclaimed director of crime drama "Animal Kingdom" and "The Rover," New York-based versatile filmmaker on the indie scene Isabel Sandoval, and renowned artistic director Edouard Waintrop. The special evening welcomed these distinguished personalities.The Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival is set to screen over 250 films during its 10-day run from October 27 to November 5.