Widows by Steve McQueen to close the 20th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star on a glorious note
The much-awaited heist thriller will Asia Premiere at the festival
With every film and line up announced, the 20th edition of the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star has raised the bar. But it has hit the highest note this edition by snagging globally acclaimed film –Widows, to close the festival.
The 20th year of the festival is set to bid goodbye with the year’s most anticipated cinematic thriller – Widows, directed by Steve McQueen and distributed by 20th Century Fox, that will be the closing film. From Academy Award winning director Steve McQueen (“12 Years a Slave”) and co-writer and bestselling author Gillian Flynn (“Gone Girl”) – Widows is a blistering, modern-day, heist-thriller set against the backdrop of crime, passion and corruption.
Based on Lynda La Plante’s TV show with the same name, Widows is set in contemporary Chicago mired in turmoil. It is the story of four women who are left with nothing in common except debt left behind by their dead husbands’ criminal activities and take fate into their own hands, while conspiring to forge a future on their own terms. The movie engages with topics as complex as sexism, police brutality and interracial marriage digging deep into our societal beliefs.
The women-centric movie features a star ensemble led by Academy Award winner Viola Davis, Michelle Rodrigues, Elizabeth Debicki and Cynthia Erivo. It also costars powerhouse actors Liam Neeson, Daniel Kaluuya, Robert Duvall,Colin Farrell, Brian Tyree Henry, Jacki Weaver and Carrie Coon.
Speaking about the film’s Asia premiere at the Jio MAMI 20th Mumbai Film Festival with Star, Vijay Singh – CEO, Fox Star Studios, said, “Over the last 20 years, the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star has become an important international film festival showcasing the best of cinema from Hollywood & Bollywood and we are proud to screen our upcoming film – ‘Widows’ at the festival. Widows is a heist thriller film directed by Award Winning director for 12 Years A Slave, Steve McQueen and has a stellar cast consisting of Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Michele Rodriguez, Colin Farrell, Liam Neeson & Daniel Kaluuya. Widows is a very special film that will enthrall audiences!”
In an interview with the Chicago Sun Times, Director Steve McQueen spoke about what lured him into making this movie, saying, “I remember seeing Lynda La Plante’s TV show ‘Widows’ at 13 years old. The idea that these women achieved something no one thought they had the capability of doing left a big impression on me, especially at a time in my life when I was being judged in the same way. Many years later, when I first came to Hollywood, I was struck by how many talented actresses weren’t working. I decided then that after I made a movie about slavery that I wanted to make a female-driven film.”
Speaking about Widows being the closing film for the landmark edition of the Jio MAMI 20th Mumbai Film Festival, Smriti Kiran – Creative Director, Jio MAMI said, “Fox Star Studios has enabled us getting Widows and we cannot thank them enough for it. Widows is a glorious way to draw the curtains on this landmark edition of the festival.”
Widows is set to release on 16th November, 2018 in cinemas across India.
The 20th edition of the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star will take place between the 25th October to 1st November, 2018.Registrations are open to the 7-day movie festival. You can register at https://in.bookmyshow.com/special/jio-mami-20th-mumbai-film-festival-with-star/ET00082823.
ABOUT MAMI
Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI), India’s leading platform for cinematic disruption and discovery, was founded in 1997 by film industry stalwarts headed by Late Hrishikesh Mukherjee. The main purpose of founding the academy was to give India an annual international film festival which the film industry and the country can be proud of. MAMI is a change-agent emboldening theatre, audiences and the industry in India to embrace the new, independent and the best of cinema that deserves to be discovered. 2018 marks the 20th year of the festival and the mission statement stated by the MAMI Board of Trustees in 1997 continues to be a reflection of the initiative, “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 which is the birthplace of Indian Cinema) and its 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.”
MAMI organizes the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star, an annual international film festival which engages film lovers from all walks of life across the city and country and aims to foster a climate of good cinema.
ABOUT JIO MAMI MUMBAI FILM FESTIVAL with STAR
Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star is the most immersive and comprehensive program that celebrates the diverse cinematic voices of our country through an international annual platform that instills pride in audiences and unites the film fraternity. The festival is organized by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI), which was founded by a group of film industry stalwarts in 1997 and was conceived and created with an aim to engage film lovers from all walks of life, and to foster an ideal climate of good cinema across the country by presenting the best of global and Indian cinema. The academy’s vision is to celebrate cinema by hosting the annual international film festival in Mumbai, India’s film and entertainment capital.
