Mumbai, 20th October 2011: The 13th Mumbai Film Festival, a Reliance entertainment initiative organized by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) that kick started on 13th October, concluded this evening, after showcasing over 200 films from 60 countries across various sections at its three venues- Cinemax Versova, Cinemax Sion and Metro Big Cinemas.

The gala eight day affair came to an end with its closing film ‘Dolphin’s Tale’ directed by Charles Martin Smith starring Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd amongst others which was followed by the closing night awards function event at ‘Sun n Sand’ hosted by actress Isha Koppikar. The event witnessed numerous celebrities that include award winning International and Indian actors, directors and producers.

The International lifetime achievement award was given to Morgan Freeman and Indian lifetime achievement award was given to Gulzar. In the International Competition category, The Golden Gateway Award and cash prize of US $ 100,000 for The Best Film was presented to French film ‘My Little Princess’ directed by Eva Ionesco. The Silver Gateway Award for Jury Grand Prize and cash prize of US $ 50,000 was presented to Canadian film ‘The Salesman’ (Le Vendeur) directed by Sebastien Pilote. The Silver Gateway Award for Best Director was presented to Eva Ionesco for the movie ‘My Little Princess’. The Silver Gateway Award for Best Actress was presented to Isabelle Huppert and Anamaria Vartolomei for their performance in the film ‘My Little Princess’. The Silver Gateway Award for Best Actor was presented to Gilbert Sicotte for his performance in ‘The Salesman’ (Le Vendeur). The Silver Gateway Jury Award for Technical Excellence was presented to Diego Poleri for ‘Las Acacias’. The Silver Gateway Special Jury Award was presented to Markus Schleinzer for ‘Michael’.

In the Celebrate Age category, The Silver Gateway Award and cash prize of Rs 50,000 for The Best Film was presented to ‘Grandma, A Thousand Times’ (Teta, Alf Marra) directed by Mahmoud Kaabour. The Silver Gateway Award and cash prize of Rs 25,000 for the Second Best Film was given to ‘Fear of Falling’ directed by Bartosz Konopka. The Celebrate Age Jury Award Certificate of Special Mention was given to Zubin Sethna for ‘The Usual’ (Wie Immer)

In the Dimensions Mumbai category, The Silver Gateway Award and cash prize of Rs 100,000 for The Best Film was presented to Ameya Gore and Sunaina Mahadik for ‘Facelift’. The Silver Gateway Award and cash prize of Rs 50,000 for The Second Best Film was presented to Abhay Kumar for ‘Life is a Beach. The Jury Special Mention Award was given to Chinmaya Nagesh Dalvi for ‘Bombay Snow’ and to Harshvir Oberai for ‘The Circle Is Mine’.

The Mumbai Young Critics Silver Gateway Award was presented to Markus Schleinzer for ‘Michael’.

Olivia Harrison attended the festival for two days to present ‘George Harrison: Living In The Material World’ along with editor David Tedeschi. She was pleased to be in India and remarked that life has come a full circle for her because George loved India and she is India showcasing this movie at the Mumbai Film Festival and this is actually the last festival screening for the movie.

The Festival this year also continued its endeavor to facilitate cinema business with the Mumbai Film Mart, created 'by' the industry, 'for' the industry, 'in' the industry hub - Mumbai, the Film Capital of India. The Mumbai Film Mart saw participation from the biggest Entertainment Industry players, both from India and abroad. In the three days, over 2,000 meeting requests were received, 400 meetings were carried out face to face, while an equal number took place among the senior decision makers from leading film production houses, buyers, sellers, festival programmers and independent filmmakers as they milled around and networked with each other.

Among the many firsts, the Mart attracted all the forthcoming big ticket films such as ‘Ra One’, ‘Don 2’, ‘Rockstar’, ‘Ricky Behl v/s Ladies’, ‘The Dirty Picture’, ‘DesiBoyz’ , tabled for acquisition and distribution in the non-traditional markets for Indian Cinema in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Germany, France and Latin America. The focus on these countries attracted leading buyers that included Huayi Brothers Media Corp. (China), NikkatsuCorp.(Japan), Happinet Corp.(Japan), Showbox (Korea), Apex Entertainment (Korea), CJ Entertainment (Korea), Top Films (Ukraine), Novo films (France), Rapid Eye (Germany), IM Global (USA), amongst many others.

The Festival strengthened and consolidated its academic activities with an Indo-German Script Development Workshop scheduled from 11th to the 13th of October just ahead of the festival opening. Speakers at the workshop include the renowned directors Dani Levy, Thorsten Schulz, Screenwriters Anjum Rajabali and Sooni Taraporevala amongst others.

For the Young creative minds selected for the Mumbai Young Critics initiative, they were mentored by film maker Vikramaditya Motwane and leading Indian film critics over a two day long session. Furthermore, Master classes on advertising by Jury President Hugh Hudson and daily Open Forums with noted industry speakers discussing various topics ranging from were scheduled around the Film Festival screenings.

Over a lakh of people watched the films making it the largest festival held in India so far. Regular attendees of the festival included Yash Chopra, Pamela Chopra, Shyam Benegal, Ramesh Sippy, Kiran Juneja, Rohan Sippy, Kiran Rao, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramadiya Motwane, Onir, Sanjay Suri, Ranvir Shorey, Shahana Goswami, Satish Kaushik, Rakesh Bedi, Kanwaljit Singh Brijesh Hirjee, Rajat Barmecha, Meiyang Chang, Pravesh Rana, Sharbani Mukherjee amongst many others.

Mumbai, October 19th: The 7th day of Mumbai Film Festival began with a lot of gusto. The day was marked with the anticipation, the arrival of Oilivia Harrison (Wife of Grorge Harrison- Beatles), producer of ‘George Harrison: Living In The Material World’ which was screened this evening and the Master Class on advertising by Hugh Hudson.

Mithun Chakraborty, Anurag Basu, Prahlad Kakkar, Bharat Dabholkar, Abbas Tyrewala, Harsh Chhaya, Sagar Ballary, Saurabh Shukla, Dev Benegal, Tanya Abrol (Chak De India Fame) were spotted at the festival venue today.

The Open Forum discussion for the day was on ‘The state of screen writing today…’ and the panel of guests included Vinay Shukla, Saurabh Shukla, Abbas Tyrewala, Sagar Ballary, Dev Benegal and Atul Tiwari. Speaking on the state of writers Vinay Shukla said, “Every producer says script is the backbone of a movie, yet they all want what has already been done before. They do not encourage fresh ideas. Writers are used more as dialogue writers and they do not have an option but to do the given work as they have to survive.” Dev Benegal added, “There are some talents who want to challenge mainstream but they don’t know how to break the closed system. One really needs good contacts.”

Abbas Tyrewala who is quite sad about script writing becoming negligible said, “Till the 60’s we did have writers, but when the Bachchan era came in, the star became bigger than the script. Everything was catered to the star. Later in the 80’s, multiple actors were used to exemplify the script and the script lost its importance further. After the Khan era began somebody discovered the NRI audience and music started becoming more popular, most of the money was recovered by satellite and distribution rights. Box office success was only a bonus and script was completely lost. And in all this writers only adapted to the change. The ability of storytelling is gone away from the genes”.

On the other hand Saurubh Shukla had a slightly different take on this, he said, “There is no dearth of writers, I come across one writer every day. The writer has to follow the vision of the directors. I am very excited about this time in Mumbai, nobody knows what will happen when, it is very unpredictable. Instead of being angry, one must write, because the system is the same everywhere.” Sagar Ballary agreed with Saurabh, he said, “We thought no one would notice Bheja Fry. It’s important for the director to decide whether he wants to make money or make a good film.”

Later in the evening the cast and director of the film ‘Nobel Chor’, screened today at Mumbai Film Festival was present with lead actor Mithun Chakraborty. Mithun plays the role of a thief who steals the Nobel Prize given to Rabindranath Tagore. Speaking about working in ‘Noble Chor’ Mithun said, “Noble Chor is the kind of movie that one is always proud to be associated with, since it doesn’t depend on your stardom, instead it keeps you rooted. Generally people go to watch movies to see the stars, but these movies are seen because of their appeal and story, it differentiates between a star and an actor.”

The evening ended with a humongous crowd lining up to watch the Martin Scorsese film ‘George Harrison Living In The Material World’. Tomorrow as the festival draws to its end, huge amounts of crowds and audience are expected to throng the venue to watch films, especially the closing film ‘Dolphin Tale’ directed by Charles Martin Smith starring Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd amongst other and to catch a glimpse of Olivia Harrison who is in town to present her movie.

While the 13th Mumbai Film Festival continues to pack in cine-goers, treating them to the best of World Cinema, the focus on the Business of film has garnered equal response.

This marked a great start for an excellent platform at the only Film Market in India created 'by' the industry, 'for' the industry, 'in' the industry hub - Mumbai, the Film Capital of India.

The Mumbai Film Mart saw participation from the biggest Entertainment Industry players, both from India and abroad. In the three days, over 2,000 meeting requests were received, 400 meetings were carried out face to face, while an equal number took place among the senior decision makers from leading film production houses, buyers, sellers, festival programmers and independent filmmakers as they milled around and networked with each other.

Among the many firsts, the Mart attracted all the forthcoming big ticket films such as ‘Ra One’, ‘Don 2’, ‘Rockstar’, ‘Ricky Behl v/s Ladies’, ‘The Dirty Picture’, ‘DesiBoyz’ , tabled for acquisition and distribution in the non-traditional markets for Indian Cinema in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Germany, France and Latin America.

The focus on these countries attracted leading buyers that included Huayi Brothers Media Corp. (China), NikkatsuCorp.(Japan), Happinet Corp.(Japan), Showbox (Korea), Apex Entertainment (Korea), CJ Entertainment (Korea), Top Films (Ukraine), Novo films (France), Rapid Eye (Germany), IM Global (USA), amongst many others.

Stephan Holl of Rapid Eye commented that despite having visited India numerous times, he managed to gather much more information in just two days at the Mart than he had ever done in the past and was able to conduct fruitful meetings.

Speaking about the first year of the Mumbai Film Mart, RashmiLamba, Manager, MFM said, “We are overwhelmed with the response we have got in the very first year itself. Essentially our focus on developing the Non-traditional markets for Indian Films has been a great success. The entire film industry was well represented, including talent fromMarathi Cinema.”

For the first time, Independent Filmmakers received an equal footing to promote and sell more than 50 films. ‘Dekh Indian Circus’ is in talks with Korean buyers, ‘Royal Treasure’ evoked interest for a funding pitch at the Hong Kong Film Festivalwhile ‘Arjun and Alison’ caught the eye of Novo films. A documentary filmmaker managed to leverage the Mart to garner co-production support from Polish and German attendees whilea soon to be launched Indian Media Fund identified interesting subjects. On home ground, Balaji Motion Pictures found new talent as did Shemaroo Entertainment who sat through a full screening of ‘Love, Lies and Seeta”

Feedback on the Mart has ranged from ‘excellent platform’ to ‘a one of its kind in the country’. Content with the first year’s response SanjeevLamba, CEO, Reliance Entertainment said “Our main aim was to ensure that Non-traditional markets were focused on and we are very happy with the response. The idea was to set a benchmark and make it extremely accessible to everyone in the industry, which we have managed to do. ”

With the bar on the Mumbai Film Mart set high, the organizers aim to establish the Mumbai Film Market as the crucial Film Market to be at by 2013, the 100th year of Indian Cinema

Mumbai, October 18th: With the 13th Mumbai Film Festival nearing its end and another three days to go, the excitement continues to be roaring. ‘Melancholia’, ‘The Yellow Sea’ ‘Histórias Que Só Existem Quando São Lembradas’, ‘Abu, Son Of Adam ’, ‘Teesri Manzil’ and were without doubt the popular movies for the day.

Dimensions Mumbai section jury for which Kiran Rao, Renuka Shahane, Vikramaditya Motwane, Onir and Nishikant Kamat were present. Encouraging the young talents and new generation of film makers Kiran Rao said, “It’s a great step forward to encourage young film makers. This is my first experience as a jury member and I must say it has been great”. She further suggested, “We should try and screen these short films before a regular movie screening in theatres. This would give a great platform to budding film makers”.

Kamat added, “Each film had a compelling storyline that portrayed Mumbai and its attractions really well, but along with this, we as a panel are also judging movies on their technical aspects and how well these components translate into a complete movie”.Appreciating the efforts of the young directors Renuka Shahane said, “It’s a big thing to say so much in five minutes, but the thoughts of these directors are very calculated”.

Later in the evening Salim Ahamed director of Abu, Son of Adam (National award winning film and India’s entry for Oscars) was present for the screening of his movie. Talking on his movie he said, “When I used to work in a travel agency many people would come to me for going to Haj, and that’s when I got inspired from a real life incident and it stayed with me for a really long time. So, I decided to make this into a movie as soon as I got the opportunity.”

The open forum had prominent critics and director Nikhil Advani discuss the relevance of film reviews and if they really matter today? Speaking at the forum the critics addressed the aspect of how they understand all films involve hard work and toil, however also criticized that at times filmmakers and those involved, offer sums to alter their perception and rating of a particular movie.

Commenting on how critics are being churned out by every publication and portal, Nikhil Advani said, “Now everyone believes in reviews. Everybody is becoming a critic and trade analyst.”

The day concluded with houseful screenings of ‘Melancholia’. The highlight of the evening was the special screening of ‘Teesri Manzil’ as part of the special Homage to Shammi Kapoor for which Shammi Kapoor’s son Aditya Raj Kapoor was present. Aditya said, “It is a great feeling that Mumbai Film Festival is honoring Shammi Kapoor by screening Teesri Manzil on the big screen. The joy of watching Teesri Manzil on big screen is completely out of this world. When I saw the film last year, I was with dad and Asha aunty. That was in fact the first time that dad also saw the film for the first time on the big screen after its premiere. This time it would be a bit sad as dad isn’t around, but I hope everyone enjoys the film nonetheless.”

The 6th day concluded with much fanfare with audiences praising the arrangements and schedule of the day. With the festival drawing closer to its end, audiences are packing in to catch the best of world cinema in the city.

Mumbai, October 17th: With the 13th Mumbai Film Festival on in full swing, Monday was the least bit blue. While ‘Pina’ was undoubtedly the movie that was on most people’s ‘to watch’ list and enthusiasts queued up outside the auditorium three hours prior to the show timing, movies such as ‘Sleeping Beauty’, ‘17 Girls’, ‘Revolution Revisited’ and ‘Fabienne’ were the other highlights for the day. Celebrity guests for today included Yash Chopra, Ramesh Sippy along with wife Kiran and son Rohan Sippy, Shabana Azmi, Tarun Mansukhani, Anurag Kashyap, Rohan Sippy, Abhishek Kapoor, Ranvir Shorey, Shahana Goswami and Rajit Kapoor amongst many others.

The 5th day saw a packed house discussing the portrayal of gay and lesbianism in new Indian Cinema. Tarun Mansukhani, Aseem Chabbra, Onir, Rajit Kapoor, Sridhar Rangayan and Rajeev Masand were present.

Speaking on the conservativeness of homosexuality in Indian Cinema Tarun Mansukhani said “There is homophobia in our country. In Dostana, I was not joking on the community, in fact, all gay men in the movie were proud of it. But If John and Abhishek were really gay they would not have played the characters nor would have anyone bought the film”. Rajit expressed that the topic should be dealt with a lot of sensitivity. “In India, women don’t even want to play the role of mothers; so lesbian characters are farfetched.” he said.

Onir whose movies ‘My Brother Nikhil’ and ‘I Am’ deals with homosexuality quipped, “I don’t get producers easily; they always tell me a “no”. What is obscene in two men kissing?” Commenting the homophobic nature of Indian viewers, Shridhar said, “There is more anxiety in Indian audience than homophobia. If the audience will look at them normally, actors will react normally on such roles.” Aseem added, “The understanding of the lifestyle of queers is the main issue which is to be dealt with first. The country has a long way to go before a full acceptance”

‘A Decent Arrangement’ directed by debutant director Sarovar Banka and starring Shaban Azmi was also screened at the Mumbai film festival in the section Film India Worldwide. When asked about working with first time directors Shabana Azmi said “I can easily say I have worked with largest number of first time directors. They rejuvenate me, their passion is immensely allergic”. Giving her views on Indian cinema going global and many Hollywood producers coming to India to shoot their movies she said, “World is becoming a global village. It’s very interesting to know their views on India. For me, working has been like being in the right place at the right time”.

In the evening Gajendra Ahire, Alka Kubal- Athalye, Rajesh Pinjani and Samrudhi Pore discussed about the focus on the Marathi film industry. Alka said, “These days English is becoming a preferred language amongst youngsters and across a lot of sectors, but that is not taking away from the increasing standards of Marathi cinema.”

The fifth day concluded on the same level of excitement it started with. One looks forward to the 6th day of the 13th Mumbai Film Festival with more stars and equally important films raining on cine goers and festival attendees.

Mumbai, 16th October: The fourth day of the 13th Mumbai Film Festival continued to enthrall cinema buffs. Unprecedented numbers of film goers and cinema enthusiasts thronged the cinemas. Accompanying the audience for the movie screenings were celebrities such as Ashutosh Gowarikar, Vishal Bharadwaj, Shabana Azmi, Makarand Deshpande, Divya Dutta, Sakshi Tanwar, Raj Zutshi, Brijesh Hirjee, Pravesh Rana, Onir, Satish Kaushik, Irawati Harshe and Aly Khan amongst many others.

The star movie of the day was undoubtedly George Clooney’s ‘The Ides Of March’which once again saw unprecedented numbers of audiences queue up for it. The star cast of ‘Stanley Ka Dabba’, which was screened at the festival were also present. In attendance were Raj Zutshi, Divya Dutta, Divya Jagdale and the magnificent kids. The surprise announcement of the film winning the best actor award at Children Young Audience SCHLINGEL made here left them all overwhelmed. Divya Dutta shared how all of them learned from the kids and lived their childhood again. She said, “It was like going to school again. When I asked Amole to give me a script he gave me a 4th std text book to read.”Raj added, “Stanley for me is very organic. It has crossed borders. Great works come out of constraint and restrain”.

The open forum discussion for the day was on ‘Room for Independent Cinema today’ that saw noted producers Madhu Mantena, Sunil Doshi, director Aijas Khan and Film Curator Ian Birnie discuss the increasing demand for independent cinema.

Madhu Mantenaexplained that there are actors and talent who are receptive of working with independent producers. He said, “The biggest stumbling block is the talent that we are working with, fail to understand independent producers. We have not collaborated well with each other. The role of a producer is often not more than a financer.”

Sunil Doshiproducer of movies such as ‘Bheja Fry’, ‘Mixed Doubles’ to name a few, added light on the system. He said, “I have not lost a single penny on any movies that I have produced. There is definitely space for independent cinema to co-exist. It’s crucial to have your budgeting in place and also involve as many team members as possible from the scripting stage itself.”

Makarand Deshpande the director of ‘Miss Sundari’ which was also screened at Mumbai Film Festival today said, “I have portrayed death auspiciously in my film. I make films to put life into them. Cinema is a medium to express”. Directors Jabbar Pateland Girish Kasaravalli’s National Award winning movies ‘Samna’and ‘Ghatashraddha’ were also screened today under the Indian retrospective section.

Furthermore seen at the festival’s Mumbai Film Mart were Saakshi Tanwar and Anand Tiwari whose film ‘Bawra Mann’ and ‘O Re Manvaa’ was showcased. In attendance at the Mart were the representatives of all major Production houses. A staggering hundred meetings took place today at the mart and over thousand odd meeting requests were put forward. In the two days over 300 meetings have been carried out. Nishit Desai and associates’ team of legal experts were present at the Mart offering free legal consultations.

The fourth day was yet again power packed with glitz, glamour and the best of world cinema. The Mumbai Festival’s growing popularity was validated this day too.

Mumbai, 15th October: The third day of 13th Mumbai Film Festival continued with fervor. Following the two power packed days, the third day saw the opening of the 4th Rendez-vous with French Cinema, with ‘The Artist’ (competed at the Cannes Film Festival 2011) as the opening film. Unprecedented numbers of audiences were witnessed for the two screenings of the film, following which a third screening of the film was also announced for today.

Present on the third day of the highly popular film festival, were the likes of Yash Chopra, Shyam Benegal, Anurag Kashyap, Kiran Rao, Riteish Deshmukh, Ayaan Mukherjee, Shahana Goswami, Onir, Vikramaditya Motwane, Santosh Sivan, Bhushan Kumar, Adoor Gopalkrishnan, Aamna Sharif, French Director Martin Provostamongst numerous others.

Films that attracted most audience included ‘The Artist’, ‘She Monkey’s’, ‘The Whistle Blower’, ‘Generation P’, ‘Michael’ and ‘Urumi’ amongst others.

Also, under the aegis of the Mumbai Film Festival, the three day long Mumbai Film Mart (MFM), which is being held from 15th- 17th October kick started today. The press conference held to announce the same saw Stephan Holl, Managing Director of Rapid Eye from Germany, David Jourdan, Sr Vice President of IM Global from USA, Akifumi Sugihara, Director of Nikkatsu from Corp Japan, Eugene Kim of Showbox and BJ Park President of Apex Entertainment from South Korea on the panel along with Sanjeev Lamba, CEO Reliance Entertainment discuss how film festivals should not only be a platform for film showcasing, but also felicitate opportunities for global business. These and many more leading film companies from non- traditional markets have been scheduled to meet representatives from companies such as Reliance Entertainment, Yashraj Films, Eros, UTV, Balaji, PVR Pictures, Cinemax, Shemaroo and Cinergy amongst many others in the coming days, to explore distribution opportunities for forthcoming Indian movies as well as catalog movies.

Riteish Deshmukh who was present to attend the screening of Santosh Sivan's 'Urumi' said, “I’ve observed that Mumbai Film Festival has been growing every year. It’s a good opportunity to watch different types of movies under one roof with the people who have a great sense of world cinema.” Commenting on Marathi movies participation in Mumbai Film festival he said, “These days the content of Marathi movies is very powerful and it should reach to Hindi film audience as well”.

Commenting on the wide range of films being shown at the festival Yash Chopra said, “The audience at this festival has variety of movies to watch. There is something for everyone here and response has always been very encouraging making this festival bigger and better every year.”

Shyam Benegal added, “As soon as I entered the main entrance gate for the Mumbai Film Festiva this afternoon, I was pleased to see huge number of movie enthusiasts attending the festival. We have a set of crème world class cinema for all kind of audience. While it’s not difficult to show the different kind of movies, it is difficult to find the attendance for such movies, but the response at Mumbai Film Festival is extremely high and positive.”

The open forum discussion for the day saw Rohan Sippy, Sameer Hoon President - VFX, Prana Studios, Naresh Malik- COO Reliance Media Works, Amit Roy and Sarak Mckenzie discuss how digital tools have helped cinema. Sharing his experience of shooting and releasing movies digitally Rohan said “Digital brings advancement as compared to the older cinemas. Films always come with new challenges it totally depends how creatively an efficiently you use. Films can also be shot in different formats and it basically depends upon the budget.”

The day’s festivities ended with a cocktail evening hosted by the French Embassy in India and Unifrance, which saw the likes of Ramesh Sippy, Shyam Benegal, Anurag Kashyap, Pitobash, Kalki Koechlin, Vikramaditya Motwane, Onir, Mr Jean Raphael Peytregnet, Consul General of France, French directors Martin Provost, Nassim Amaouche, sisters Delphine and Muriel Coulinamongst others in attendance.

With large numbers attending the film festival, the fact that the Mumbai Film Festival is growing in popularity is only validated. With a glam-packed third day, one looks forward to day four.

Mumbai, 14th October: The second day of 13th Mumbai Film Festival saw cinema enthusiasts flock to Cinemax Versova, Cinemax Sion and Metro Big Cinemas since wee hours of the day.

Ramesh Sippy, Kiran Juneja, Sanjay Suri, Ketan Mehta, Vinay Shukla, Vikramaditya Motwane, Anjum Rajabali, Swanand Kirkire, Anaida, Reema Lagoo, Rajat Barmecha (Udaan fame) Sharmani Mukherjee, Chitra Palekar, Reema Lagoo, Bijon Das Gupta were spotted the festival. Apart from international films such as ‘Las Acasias’, ‘The Salesman’, ‘My Little Princess’, ‘The Turin Horse’ amongst others that attracted attention, Indian films screened today included Satayjit Ray’s ‘Pather Panchali’, Umesh Kulkarni’s ‘Deool’- which had its world premiere, Prashant Nair directed ‘Delhi In A Day’ and more.

Commenting on the occasion of the world premiere screening of Deool, Director Umesh Kulkarni said, “Mumbai Film Festival is a great platform to have a world premiere of our movie, since it is a large format event having various cosmopolitan and International movie buffs for which we have organized the movie print with English subtitles. This is my third film and I’m looking forward to its release. After 4-5 years of research we have readied Deool for which our entire team has worked in the rural parts of Maharashtra.”

An interactive open forum on Innovative co- productions and crowd funding was held this afternoon. Moderated by Reliance Entertainment CEO Sanjeev Lamba- the panelists included actor – producer Sanjay Suri, Director Ketan MehtaRussian, director Vicktor Geinsberg and ‘Dehi in a Day’ Director Prashant Nair who shared their experiences and obstacles in gathering funds for their movies.

Sanjay commenting on his movie ‘I Am’, which has about 400 co- producers said “One has to be transparent. In India people don’t do charity because they think it won’t go to the needy. I wanted to make a bonafide film where I could dictate the terms. It’s always important to plan distribution whenever you plan production.”

Prashant Nair whose film ‘Delhi in a Day’ was the opening film of the Film India Worldwide section at the 13th Mumbai film festival had also raised funds to make his film in India. He discussed on the basic money round up that film maker goes through i.e. private equity, intelligent use of incentives, government support, online funding and leveraging support groups.

Victor Geinsberg gave his unique idea of including brands in the film to raise funds. He shared how everybody in Russia had declared his movie would not work because of its foul language and bold drug scenes. He had integrated various brands in his movie and that’s when he realized that they would be able to fund him. Ketan Mehtagave an overview of funding films from the ancient ways of film funding till the facebook generation of funding films.

With a tremendous turnout and a stunning array of films showcased this day, one only looks forward to the remaining days of this growing film festival.

Mumbai, 13th October, 2011: The 13th Mumbai Film Festival, a Reliance Entertainment initiative, organized by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) kick started with the much anticipated film ‘Moneyball’starring Brad Pitt and directed Bennett Miller. The film was screened on all the screens at the festival’s main venue- Cinemax Versova.

Marking the auspicious commencement of the 13th Mumbai Film Festival director- producer Yash Chopra lit the lamp along with actress Dia Mirza, President of Film & TV Producers Guild Ramesh Sippy and trustee of MAMI Amit Khanna in attendance. Joining them were the International Competition jury members Hugh Hudson (Jury President), Jerzy Skolimowski, Na Hong- Jin, Roger Spottiswoode and Sarika.

The red carpet saw various celebrities, cinephiles, delegates and media arrive for the ‘Moneyball’ screening with great enthusiasm. The screening of the movie was then followed by a red carpet at Sun N Sand for the opening ceremony and dinner function that saw in attendance various B-town celebrities such as Abhinay Deo, Vikramaditya Motwane, Rohan Sippy and Golide Behl amongst many others.

The jury members of all the sections- International Competition, Dimensions Mumbai and Harmony Celebrate Age were introduced to the guests present at the function.

Commenting on this occasion, Srinivasan Narayanan, Festival Director, 13th Mumbai Film Festival, said, “The 13th Mumbai Film Festival has certainly begun with a tremendous turnout. We sincerely hope that all those attending will see the effort put behind organizing this popular festival and hope that this year’s selection of films satisfies their appetite of quality cinema.”

While the opening day of the 13th Mumbai film festival wound up with great pomp and celebration, the second day 14th October will see close to 50 movies being screening at Cinemax Versova, Cinemax Sion and Metro Big Cinemas and various celebrities and movie buffs in attendance.

About Mumbai Film Festival: Mumbai Film Festival is an initiative by Reliance Entertainment which is the flagship media and entertainment arm of India's Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. Mumbai Film Festival is organized by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) - a body comprised of Indian film industry stalwarts which was founded in 1997 by late filmmaker Shri Hrishikesh Mukherjee.

Noted filmmaker Shri Shyam Benegal heads the body that consists of film directors including: Yash Chopra, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Karan Johar, renowned actresses Shabana Azmi and Jaya Bachchan, actor-director Amol Palekar and Farhan Akhtar and the chairman of Reliance Big Entertainment Amit Khanna as Trustees.

Mumbai, October 5, 2011: The 13th Mumbai Film Festival, a Reliance entrainment initiative is all set to welcome some of the best new French cinema and artists for the 4th edition of the Rendez-vous with French Cinema co-organized with the French Embassy in India and Unifrance.

The festival will see renowned French cinema personalities such as Delphine Coulin, Muriel Coulin, Nassim Amouache, Martin Provost, José Alcala and Stéphane Robelin amongst others in attendance.

Jean-Raphaël Peytregnet, Consul General of France said, “We are happy to be associated with the Mumbai Film Festival. The Mumbai Film Festival has certainly etched a place for itself, to be recognized as one of the best film festivals both in India and Internationally. The ‘4th Rendez-vous with French Cinema’ section will showcase some of the best new French Cinema, with the participation of some well-known French stars.”

The special section seeks to establish an exhilarating platform for showcasing the various facets of French contemporary cinema, helping Indian distributors to promote new French films and celebrate the growing Indo-French ties. A total of ten films will be screened during the course of the festival, including some of the acclaimed and award winning new films.

The section will open with The Artist by Michel Hazanavicius – a new silent film that pays thoughtful tribute to the traditions of the past while creating fun for modern audiences. Other films that will be screened include Beloved (“Les Bien-aimés”) by Christophe Honoré, Declaration of War (“La Guerre est déclarée”) by ValérieDonzelli, Fabienne (“Coup d’éclat”) by José Alcala, Service Entrance(“Les Femmes du 6ème étage”) by Philippe Le Guay, The Conquest (“La Conquête”) by Xavier Durringer, The Long Falling (“Où va la nuit”) by Martin Provost, The Minister (“L’Exercice de l’état) by Pierre Schöller, The Snows of Kilimanjaro (“Les Neiges du Kilimandjaro”) by Robert Guédiguian and Tomboy by Céline Schiamma.

Srinivasan Narayanan, Festival Director, 13th Mumbai Film Festival said "Mumbai Film Festival is committed to showcasing the best of world Cinema, this only validates our efforts. We are delighted to be welcoming some of the fine French talents and thank the French Embassy in India and Unifrance for their support to the Mumbai Film Festival in scaling up the festival with brand new films and celebrity participation from France."

Régine Hatchondo, General Manager, Unifrance said, “The eclectic mix of films lined up for the ‘4th Rendez-vous with French Cinema in India’ is set to mesmerize the Indian audience. Aimed at showcasing the incredible diversity of French cinema, it will provide exciting emotions and develop relationships with Indian distributors to help them discover and release French films.”

Additionally, an impressive lineup of more than 30 French films will be part of the 13th Mumbai Film Festival and Eva Ionesco’s My Little Princess starring Isabelle Huppert, one of the most talented French actresses will represent France in the International Competition.

Srinivasan Narayanan, director, Mumbai Film Festival says, “Sarika is both an international as well as an Indian actor, and understands the medium of cinema in its entirety. We are happy that she graciously accepted to be a part of the jury."

Commenting on being a part of the Jury, Sarika says, “I am delighted to be part of the 13th Mumbai film festival jury. I am looking forward to watching quality cinema of different kinds and meeting my counterparts from both India and abroad. I think the Mumbai Film Festival gives cinema lovers a great opportunity to experience world cinema. With buzz surrounding this year’s festival and the selection of films, I am certain that a new milestone will be set."

Sarika started her career as a child actress and to date has acted in approximately 100 films. In 2006, Sarika won a National Award in the category of Best Actress for her performance in ‘Parzania’ and also a National Award for Best Costume Design for ‘Hey Ram’.

Mumbai, 20 September, 2011: The 13th Mumbai Film Festival, a Reliance entertainment initiative announced an impressive line-up of about 200 films under various sections films for the festival earlier today at a press conference held by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) chairman, Shyam Benegal, Amit Khanna, and MFF director Srinivasan Narayanan.

Scheduled to be held from 13th to 20th October with Cinemax Versova as the main hub of the festival and screenings programmed at Metro Big Cinemas and Cinemax Sion, the 13th Mumbai Film Festival will showcase the best of truly global cinema. Shyam Benegal, Chairman, MAMI announced that the Brad Pitt starrer ‘Moneyball’ will be the Opening Film at the festival and Morgan Freeman starrer ‘Dolphin Tale’ will be the Closing Film. Among the spectacular list of films that will have their India premieres include the highly talked about ‘Melancholia’, directed by Lars Von Tier, ‘The Whistle Blower’ starring Rachel Weiz, George Clooney’s ‘The Ides of March’ and ‘Pina’ directed by Wim Wenders amongst many others. Announcing this line up of movies, Shyam Benegal, Chairman, MAMI said, “A feast of films awaits you at the 13th Mumbai Film Festival. We are extremely proud of the fact that Mumbai Film Festival is fast getting recognized to be the best international film festival in this country.”

In addition to impressive list of films being screened under the non-competitive sections of the festival, an equally powerful list of films will compete under the three competition sections; International Competition for the First Feature Films of Directors, Dimensions Mumbai and Harmony Celebrate Age for a total of USD 200,000 which will be awarded to the winning films as prize money. Srinivasan Naryanan, Festival Director, 13th Mumbai Film Festival said, “This year the selection committee had its task cut out for them. They had to choose from over 800 films to finally zero down on such a closely competitive line-up.”

An eminent panel of international Jury members including Hugh Hudson (Jury president, international competition), Roger Spottiswoode, Jerzy Skolimowski, Na-Hong Jin along with Indian Jury members Basu Chatterjee (Jury president, Celebrate age), Kiran Rao (Jury president, Dimension Mumbai), Onir, Nishikant Kamat, Sushasini Mulay, Renuka Shahane, Mukesh Bhatt, Avantika Akerkar, Vikramaditya Motwane will adjudge the winning films under the various competition sections. The 13th MFF will pay tribute to cinematic legends Shammi Kapoor, M.F.Hussain and Mani Kaul with a special screening of their works. Additionally a film retrospective of Jury President, Hugh Hudson’s works will be screened, including ‘Revolution Revisited’ and ‘I Dreamed of Africa’ amongst others. Noted poet, lyricist, script writer and director, Gulzar will be presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 13th Mumbai Film Festival.

In addition to screening cinematic masterpieces, the festival this year will screen the best of Cannes Critics Week winning films and Debut features that won the National Film Awards, spanning the last 50 years. The festival will host a special section ‘4me Rendez-Vous’, in collaboration with Unifrance, Embassy of France in India and Consulate General of France in Mumbai. The section will screen the best of New French Cinema, the like of which include ‘The Snows of Kilimanjaro’, ‘The Conquest’ and ‘Declaration of War’ amongst others. Another highlight includes a special presentation by Lee Yong Kwan, Director, Busan International Film Festival, who will present a selection of the latest Asian Films from Busan. The Festival this year around continues its endeavor to facilitate cinema business with the Mumbai Film Mart, with top sales agents, executives, distributors and buyers confirming their participation. The Festival is strengthening and consolidating its academic activities with an Indo-German Script Development Workshop scheduled from 11th to the 13th of October just ahead of the festival opening. Speakers at the workshop include the renowned directors; Dani Levy, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Thorsten Schulz, Screenwriters; Anjum Rajabali and Sooni Taraporevala amongst others. For the Young creative minds selected for the Mumbai Young Critics initiative, they will be mentored by expert foreign film critics. Furthermore a Master class on film direction by Jury President Hugh Hudson on film making with special reference to Ad-filmmaking and daily open forums with noted industry speakers have been scheduled around the Film Festival screenings.

Certainly grown to become a crucial cultural event, the Mumbai Film Festival has grown bigger and better.

Mumbai, 14 September,2011: While curiosity on the 13th Mumbai film festival, a Reliance entertainment initiative organized by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image is building up, today the 13th Mumbai Film Festival announced that it will host an Indo-German script development workshop for Screen-Writers, Directors, Producers and Film Students willing to explore the opportunities in Intercultural storytelling and more globally accepted story development especially between Germany and India.

Scheduled to be held from the 11th to the 13th of October 2011, the three day workshop will include discussions by eminent global and Indian speakers including the renowned director; Dani Levy, known for his numerous films, including ‘My Fuhrer’ and ‘Go for Zucker’ , Director, Producer and Writer; Ashutosh Gowarikar (Lagaan, Swades…)Screenwriter; Anjum Rajabali (Raajneeti, Aarakshan…), screenwriter and Director; Sooni Taraporevala (Namesake, Salaam Bombay...), Writer and Director; Thorsten Schulz (Boxhagenerplatz, In the name of innocence…), and Actor, Director and Producer Rajat Kapoor amongst others.

With discussions on various topics scheduled, including: The secret about stories crossing borders, International influences in national film storytelling and The power of film characters shown in practical “Script Constellation” exercises; the workshop will be open to script writers, directors, producers and film students on a first come first serve basis.

“Any writer, director and producer who have at least one film to his credit can apply for the workshop. Film direction and script writing students from the Film Institutes like FTII in India can also attend the workshop. We have the privilege of welcoming talents like Dani Levy, Thorsten Schulz, Jochen Brunow who will share the platform with Indian directors such as Ashutosh Gowarikar amongst others, we believe that this is a huge step forward.” said S.Narayanan, Festival Director, 13th Mumbai Film Festival.

As a special program, an Indo-German Project has been invited to be presented during the workshop as a case study in how collaboration between Indian and German Writers and Directors might work. The final date to send in a project is scheduled for the 26th of September 2011 (www.primexchange.eu). With a workshop fee of Rs 3000 for the three consecutive days, general applications to participate at the workshop are open till the 4th of October 2011.

“Nowadays Germany is looking at India and especially Mumbai, representing the biggest film industry in the world for interesting content. It is an exciting time right now to exchange ideas and cultural point of views in film making and storytelling. It is both a great honor and initiative for writers and directors from Germany to have discussions with some of the most eminent writers and directors from India.” Said Stephan Ottenbruch, Managing partner, Life Entertainment GmbH. Designed as being a series of workshops aimed at developing Indo-German projects, the first workshop will be held at the 13th Mumbai film festival 2011 followed by one at the Berlin film festival 2012 and the 14th Mumbai film festival 2012 to further develop prospective projects. Furthermore the workshop will assist screenwriters and producers in getting a better understanding about the Indian, respectively the European way of storytelling.

Mumbai, September 13, 2011: The prestigious 13th Mumbai Film Festival, a Reliance entertainment initiative, today announced a special section to celebrate 50 Years of Cannes Critics Week along with National Award winning debut features.

Showcasing the best of the Cannes Critics Week and the National Award winning films, the 13th Mumbai Film Festival will recreate the silver screen cinematic magic of award winning films. Some of the international classics to be screened in this section include Valeria Gaii Guermanika’s ‘Everybody Dies But Me’, Ken Loach’s ‘Kes’, Jerzy Skolimowski’s ‘Walkover’ amongst others. The Indian National Film Award winning films to be screened in this special section include Adoor Gopalakirshnan’s ‘Swayamvaram’, Shyam Benegal’s ‘Ankur’ and Girish Kasaravalli’s ‘Ghatasraddha’ amongst others.

Commenting on this initiative Srinivasan Naryanan, Festival Director, Mumbai Film Festival says, “By juxtaposing the Cannes Critics Week award winning films along with the Indian debut features which won National Film Awards, we are trying to create an analytical study of the films that have created trends abroad and in India, the narrative structure and the technical aspects which went into the making of these path breaking films.”

The Mumbai Film Festival will also invite the directors of the selected films, making the event truly memorable. “We will be inviting the filmmakers. It will be a treat for cinema connoisseurs to be able to interact with these cinema legends. We are only happy to be paying this tribute to these masters,” adds Narayanan Undoubtedly all set to be a truly memorable event, the13th Mumbai Film Festival will be held from October 13 to October 20, 2011.

For registration and more information log on to www.mumbaifilmfest.com

Mumbai, September 8, 2011: After the success of the 12th MAMI film festival, the 13th Mumbai Film Festival, a Reliance Entertainment initiative will be held in Mumbai from the 13th to the 20th of October 2011.

This year’s festival boasts of a lineup of cinematic masterpieces and an esteemed panel of jurors. The jury members for the international competition section include Academy Award nominee director- Hugh Hudson (Jury President, International competition), Roger Spottiswoode- director of James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies and the Arnold Schwarzenegger starrer ‘The 6th Day’; Acclaimed Polish director-Jerzy Skolimowski and young Korean director- Na Hong-Jin who received numerous awards and acclaim for his films ‘The Chaser’ and ‘The Yellow Sea’.

Being held across multiple venues in the city, the main hub for the festival will be Cinemax Versova and other venues include Cinemax Sion and Metro BIG cinemas, the festival aims at showcasing spectacular cinematic works of directors from across the globe.

“Mumbai Film Festival is committed to showcase the best in cinematic talent. It has been a long and extremely fruitful journey. We are happy to welcome the eminent jury members and play host to them. We are also happy that the Indian entertainment industry has shown us tremendous support,” says Shyam Benegal, Chairman, Mumbai Film Festival.

Basu Chatterjee who in the past has directed cult films such as ‘Gudgudee’, ‘Chameli Ki Shaadi’ amongst numerous others, is the Chairman of the Harmony Celebrate Age Jury. Harmony Celebrate Age aims to encourage filmmakers to look beyond the stereotypes of old age and to look at the positive side of ageing.

An impressive list of jurors for the Dimensions Mumbai section of the festival include young directors; Kiran Rao (Dhobi Ghat) (Chairperson- Dimension Mumbai Jury), Vikram Aditya Motwane (Udaan), Nishikant Kamat (Mumbai Meri Jaan), Onir (My Brother Nikhil) and actor par excellence- Renuka Shahane. Dimensions Mumbai, a short film competition open to Mumbaikars below the age of 25 years, where a short film depicting any aspect of life in Mumbai can be submitted.

Speaking about the Jury composition, S. Narayanan, Director; Mumbai Film Festival said, “We are delighted to have such an esteemed panel of industry professionals as our jury members.” He further adds, “We will soon be announcing the complete lineup for the festival. We are delighted with the response we have been receiving and the support extended to us by the Indian entertainment industry. We hope to be bigger and better this year.”