The Mumbai Film Festival (Oct 29-Nov 5), organised by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI), has announced that it will present lifetime achievement awards to Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos and Indian actor-director Shashi Kapoor.
Angelopoulos will be presented with the international lifetime achievement award at the festival’s closing ceremony on Nov 5. Kapoor, a legend of Indian cinema with credits such as Deewar and Namak Halaal, will receive the Indian lifetime achievement award at the Oct 29 opening. The festival will also screen a selection of both Angelopoulos’ and Kapoor’s films.
The festival also announced that the five-member international jury will include US scriptwriter and director Paul Schrader and Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi.
In addition to the international competition for first feature films, the festival’s major programmes include World Cinema, Indian Showcase, short film competition Dimensions Mumbai and Retrospectives. Prizes in the competition section include the Golden Gateway India trophy, which comes with a cash award of $100,000, and the Silver Gateway India award with $50,000.
“The 11th MMF will showcase the best in contemporary Indian cinema even while it takes a look back at cinema down the ages,” said MAMI chairman Shyam Benegal. “We also want to encourage young film talent and will have a forum for that.”
The festival will also feature a jury of 32 college students, dubbed “Mumbai Young Critics”, who will vote for the film which will receive the Mumbai Young Critics Award and the Silver Gateway of India.
Fun Republic’s 4-screen multiplex in Andheri will be the central venue of the festival, while screenings will also take place at Metro Big Cinema and other theatres.
Founded in 1997, MAMI is an independent body of film professionals including Benegal, Yash Chopra, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Karan Johar and Reliance Big Entertainment chairman Amit Khanna.
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