Mumbai International Film Festival, MIFF 2014 begins on Monday
Before Midnight: a Portrait of India on Film, 1899-1947, from the British Film Institute Archive is the opening fil
Film made by Mumbai school kids to be screened at the inauguration.
V Shantaram Life Time Achievement Award to be presented.
Bangalore band ‘Mystic Vibes’ to perform ats the opening ceremony
A week long festival celebrating the best of documentary films begins in Mumbai, with the inauguration of the Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films, MIFF 2014 at NCPA, by the Governor of Maharashtra Mr. K N Sankaranarayanan on Monday.
The highlight of the inaugural ceremony is the presentation of the opening film package – Before Midnight: a Portrait of India on Film, 1899-1947, which is a collection of home movies, documentaries , dramas and comedies exploring how life was lived in British India. This is an unparalleled collection of films from the British Film Institute National Archive, most of which are being shown in India publicly for the first time.
The Maharajah of Jodhpur’s home movies provide an epic portrait of princely power in the 1930s and 40s, whilst those of the Gorrie family offer an intimate picture of family life and their expeditions into the Himalaya. The collection also features the films and TV dramas that helped to shape the mythologies of British India including The Drum (1938), The North West Frontier (1959) and The Far Pavilions (1984). With over 100 non-fiction films the 86 minute collection covers subjects that range from temples to tigers. (www.bfi.org.uk )
Another highlight of the opening ceremony is the screening of short film titled ‘Checkmate BB’ produced by Mumbai School kids. 17 kids from 13 schools were trained to conceptualise, direct, shoot and edit a film of their own at a workshop conducted by by the Linnep Media and CineKids, Amsterdam as part of the fortnight long Linnep Kids Film Festival, that was held in 15 schools of Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane, as a run up to MIFF 2014.
The V Shantaram Award for Life Time Achievement, carrying a cash prize of Rs 5 lakhs (Rs 500,000) and a citation will also be presented during the inaugural ceremony.
Indian Navy’s ceremonial Naval band and Bangalore’s noted music group – Mystic Vibes will enthral the audience at the inaugural ceremony.
What the festival offers :
The festival line up promises best of documentary films and the International Competition includes documentaries and short films that have been making the right noises around the festival circuit for a while. Dylan Mohan Gray’s Fire in the Blood, Ian McDonald’s Algorithms, Shai Heredia’s I Am Micro, Kim Longinotto’s Salma, Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing, and Nishtha Jain’s Gulabi Gang. The Indian section includes the likes of Shivendra Singh Dungarpur’s Celluloid Man, Satyanshu Singh and Devanshu Singh’s Tamaash (The Puppet), Raja Shabir Khan’s Shepherds of Paradise, Govind Raju’s Golden Mango and Sunanda Bhat’s Have You Seen the Arana?
Detailed day-wise screening schedule can be accessed at www.miff.in
In addition, there will be a number of Open Forum discussions, master classes and seminars on film making and promoting documentary film culture.
PIB Mum/MD
