18th Mumbai International Film Festival opens on June 15 with first-ever DOC Film Bazaar

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At a time when young Indian documentary filmmakers, notably Payal Kapadia, Shaunaq Sen, Sushmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas, are winning international accolades, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has announced that the 18th edition of the Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) will be held from June 15 to 21.

Established in 1980, MIFF is South Asia's oldest running showcase of documentary, short fiction and animation films. The highlight of this year's event, organised, as always, by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), will be the first-ever DOC Film Bazaar, or a marketplace for documentary filmmakers to make contacts with potential sponsors and collaborators.

The international jury, according to a communique issued by the ministry, wil linclude eminent film personalities from across the world, such as Keiko Bang, Barthelemy Fougea, Audrius Stonys, Bharat Bala and Manas Choudhary.

The jury will award the 'Golden Conch' for the best documentary film, the 'Silver Conch' for the best international short fiction film and best animation film, and the 'Pramod Pati Award' for the most innovative/experimental film.

The national jury for the festival includes Adele Seelmann-Eggebert, Dr Bobby Sarma Baruah, Apoorva Bakshi, Munjal Shroff and Anna Henckel-Donnersmarck. The jury members will select the best among the Indian submissions in the documentary, short film, animation, debut film and student film categories.

An award will also be given to the best short film on the theme of 'India in Amrit Kaal'.

MIB Secretary Sanjay Jaju said that while venue for the festival will be the Films Division-NFDC Complex, Mumbai, MIFF screenings will also be held in Delhi (Siri Fort Auditorium), Chennai (Tagore Film Centre), Pune (NFAI Auditorium) and Kolkata (Satyajit Ray FTI Auditorium).

MIFF has received a record number of submissions -- 1,018 films in 65 languages from 38 nations for the competition sections.

The annual festival will also present packages of award-winning shorts from the Oscars and the Berlinale, and also host eight world, six international, 17 Asian and 15 Indian premieres.

The opening film of the festival will be 'Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story'. And it will close with the film that wins the Golden Conch.

Additionally, the festival time-table includes 20 masterclasses, conversations and panel discussions with industry luminaries such as Santosh Sivan, Audrius Stonys, Ketan Mehta, Richie Mehta, T.S. Nagabharana and Georges Schwizgebel.