JIO MAMI MUMBAI 18th FILM FESTIVAL WITH STAR INTRODUCES A VIRTUAL REALITY EXPERIENCE

JIO MAMI MUMBAI 18th FILM FESTIVAL WITH STAR INTRODUCES A VIRTUAL REALITY EXPERIENCE

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The festival to provide the ultimate and unique VR experience with special films curated by Director Shakun Batra

Every year, Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival brings an experience to the city that it has never seen before. This year, the ultimate film experience comes to Jio MAMI with Star, in its 18th edition, powered by the Samsung Gear VR and the Samsung Galaxy Smartphone. At the festival, which is set to kick off on 20th October, Mumbai will be introduced to award winning virtual reality cinema at the Samsung VR lounge. Bringing the immersive and paradigm shifting world of virtual reality for tech savvy, film fanatics, the Samsung VR Lounge will be available to the delegates throughout 22nd and 23rd October, as a part of the festival’s Movie Mela.

The festival to provide the ultimate and unique VR experience with special films curated by Director Shakun Batra.

Young director Shakun Batra will handpick a special list of short films that will screened at the Samsung VR Lounge at the Jio MAMI with Star Movie Mela. Shakun Batra made his directorial and screenwriting debut with the romantic comedy Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu and has recently directed the family drama Kapoor & Sons

Founder and Curator Shakun Batra said, “VR is not just some kind of fad or a gimmick. It’s here to stay and change the way we tell stories. Not as a substitute to movies but as a new platform for story-telling where you can create immersive worlds and soundscapes that are not possible in 2D and 3D worlds. And all of this is just the beginning. I think in the case of VR, it would be more appropriate to say that it will only get smaller and better. MAMI like always is ahead of the curve, and will be one of the first major Indian film festival to have a VR vertical. We have a riveting line up of films and some ace VR filmmakers joining us. For anyone, who’s curious to know what this new virtual world has to offer MAMI is the place to be this year.”

Virtual reality holds a great promise in offering the city a new viewpoint as it transforms ‘watching’ to ‘experiencing’. Keeping this in mind Jio MAMI 18th Mumbai Film Festival with Star and Samsung have worked together to provide a more immersive and wholesome movie experience to the delegates.

The Gear VR has mainstreamed virtual reality by putting the viewer at the center of the movie watching experience, delivered on the back of the cutting edge display, processing and software of the Samsung Galaxy Smartphone. Both the Smartphone and the VR headset work in tandem to weave the magic of virtual reality that becomes believable due to a big field of view and smooth image processing. Given Jio MAMI with Star’s previous track record of introducing the latest and the best to the delegates, the festival is the perfect platform for Samsung to showcase the state-of-the-art in the field of technology and the future of cinema to the world.

Jio MAMI with Star, Festival Director, Anupama Chopra said, “Every year, we want to provide an experience to our delegates that goes beyond films-This year, with the technology of the Samsung Gear VR, we would like to introduce new ways of watching and experiencing films to audiences. At the Samsung VR Lounge at Jio MAMI with Star Movie Mela, we are sure that this latest technology will enthrall audiences.”

Jio MAMI with Star VISION 2016

The Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star is an inclusive movie feast. We showcase the latest cutting-edge, independent cinema – art house fare alongside genre movies from Bollywood and Hollywood and cult international movies. We offer the best of world cinema to the people of Mumbai and we offer the best of Indian cinema to the world. The festival is run by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image popularly known as MAMI. This is a space where we revel in the sheer pleasure of cinema, the joy it gives us and how much it enhances our lives. The goal is to nurture and ignite a passion for movies. We want Jio MAMI to be shorthand for excellence in cinema.

ABOUT Jio MAMI with Star Film Festival

Mumbai – the financial capital of India is also the epicenter of the Indian film industry. The city plays such a major role in production and dissemination of Indian films and television programs that it is widely known by its acronym ‘Bollywood’.  In 1997, a group of film industry stalwarts headed by late Hrishikesh Mukherjee founded the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) as a not-for-profit Trust. Their main objective was to organize an annual International Film Festival which the film industry and the country could be proud of.  MAMI has been organizing the festival for the last 16 years and aims to foster a climate of good cinema. MAMI engages people from all walks of life across the city and country that enjoy and love good cinema. It is Mumbai’s only film festival that is entirely created and run by film professionals and a group of members from corporate India. Appreciation of good cinema, stripped off all the limiting labels of art and commercial, can only come about through exposure to the best of films the world has to offer. The Festival is the first step in that direction.

In their Mission Statement in 1997, the MAMI Board of Trustees said, “We feel it is the need of the hour to disseminate and inculcate good cinema among Indian audiences. The only way to achieve this is to celebrate cinema by hosting an International Film Festival in Mumbai, India’s film and entertainment capital. MAMI (Mumbai Academy of Moving Image) is committed to start Mumbai’s first independent international film festival organized by practicing film makers.” For more information on Jio MAMI 18th Mumbai Film Festival with Star scheduled to be held from 20th October- 27th October 2016