The Draft Colaba

By A Draft Colaba Correspondent

The Films Division complex in Mumbai which also houses the National Museum of Indian Cinema is getting ready to host the 17th Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) for Documentary, Short Fiction and Animation films. The festival will run from 29 May 2022 till 4 June 2022 in Mumbai.

SHOW TIME: MIFF 2022 will run from 29 May till 4 June in Mumbai

The opening ceremony of the week-long biennial film festival will be held at Nehru Centre in Worli and all the festival screenings will take place in the Films Division Complex, which has state-of-the-art auditoriums.

MIFF 2022 has got an overwhelming response from filmmakers across the world, receiving a whopping 808 film entries from 30 countries. Out of these, 102 films will be screened under the 'Competition' category - 35 in international competition and 67 in national competition and18 films will be screened under the ‘MIFF Prism' category.

The Best Film of the festival will receive the Golden Conch award along with a cash prize of Rs ten lakh. Other awards carry cash awards that vary from Rs one to Rs five lakh along with Silver Conch, trophy and certificate. IDPA awards carrying Rs one lakh and trophy for the Best Student Film and Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari Award for the Best Debut Director will also be presented on the closing day.

The coveted Dr V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award that carries a cash award of Rs ten lakh, trophy and a citation will be presented to a filmmaker of eminence for his/her seminal contribution to documentary films.

ONE AND ALL: Students, filmmakers and film enthusiasts will be attending the festival

S Krishnaswamy, Shyam Benegal, Naresh Bedi and Vijaya Mulay are some of the prominent filmmakers who have been honoured with this prestigious award in the past. This award is instituted in the memory of legendary filmmaker V Shantaram who was closely associated with Films Division as an Honorary Chief Producer during the 1950s.

In commemoration of Bangladesh’s 50 years of independence, the country has been chosen as the ‘Country of Focus’ this year. A special package of 11 films from Bangladesh including critically acclaimed film Hasina- A Daughter’s Tale will be presented at MIFF 2022.

Netflix original series Mighty Little Bheem: I love Taj Mahal episode will also make its World Premiere at MIFF 2022.

The first animation film co-produced by India and Japan Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama will also have its special screening at MIFF 2022. Contribution of Films Division in the documentary culture in India will be showcased through a specially curated package, Image-Nation.

Special packages like Oscar Film package curated by Shorts TV, Special Film packages from Italy and Japan, Indian Panorama from the recent editions of IFFI will be a point of attraction for film buffs.

Students Film packages from reputed institutions like National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute (SRFTI), Kolkata, Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT) Pune, K R Narayanan Film Institute, Kerala will showcase the spirit of young talent. Also Students’ Animation Documentary Films from Myanmar and films from Students’ Animation Film Festival Brazil will be a unique curation.

Similarly, curated films from North-East India, best of short fiction from Pocket Films Platform and special screening of restored version of Satyajit Ray’s film Sukumar Ray will also be showcased.

Being one of the reputed documentary film festivals of the world, MIFF brings together documentary filmmakers, film buffs, film critics, broadcasters, OTT platforms and students who debate and discuss contemporary trends in the field of documentary films.

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