18th Mumbai International Film Festival to be held from June 15 to 21

NEW DELHI: The 18th edition of the Mumbai International Film Festival will be held in Mumbai from June 15 to 21, Union Information and Broadcasting Secretary Sanjay Jaju announced on Friday.

Addressing a press conference here at the National Media Centre, Jaju said the film gala, which showcases non-feature films will be at the FD-NFDC Complex in Mumbai.

Besides, MIFF screenings will also be held in Delhi at Sirifort Auditorium, Chennai at Tagore Film Centre, Pune at NFAI auditorium and Kolkata at SRFTI Auditorium.

A premier international event in the documentary film world, the Mumbai International Film Festival is held once in two years since its inception in 1990.

The 2024 edition will open with the screening of National Geographic's documentary "Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story".

The organisers received a record number of 1018 films from 38 countries and across 65 languages for the latest edition.

A total of 118 films have been selected by the three selection committees, comprising eminent film experts for the International and National competition sections along with 16 films in MIFF PRISM.

There will be eight world premieres, six international premieres, 17 Asia premieres and 15 India premieres during the film gala where special packages have also been curated.

The first one will comprise 12 shorts films each from Oscars and Berlin Film Festival.

A ‘Special Country Focus' package will put spotlight on collaborations with seven countries Russia, Japan, Belarus, Italy, Iran, Vietnam and Mali.

Another notable package will put focus on animation films from four countries - France, Slovenia, Argentina and Greece.

The international jury includes eminent film personalities from across the world Keiko Bang, Barthelemy Fougea, Audrius Stonys, Bharat Bala, and Manas Choudhary, who 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 jury for the national competition include Adele Seelmann-Eggebert, Dr Bobby Sarma Baruah, Apoorva Bakshi, Munjal Shroff and Anna Henckel-Don nersmarck. They will confer the best indian documentary, short film, animation, best debut film award and best student film award , in addition to a host of technical awards and a special award for best short film on "India in Amrit Kaal”.

There are three technical awards as well for cinematography, editing and sound design to be given for both national & and international competition.

The 18th MIFF will also host engaging 20 masterclasses, in-conversations and panel discussions with filmmakers Santosh Sivan, Audrius Stonys, Ketan Mehta, Richie Mehta, T.S Nagabharana, Georges Schwizgebel and others.