at the Jio MAMI 19th Mumbai Film Festival with STAR
Sandeep Modi's Chumbak and Deepak Gawade's Idak to Word Premiere
The Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star, in its 19th edition celebrates the bold new face of Marathi Cinema by showcasing 6 debut films in the second edition of the much loved Marathi cinema section - Marathi Talkies.
While Marathi cinema has always been a part of the festival in sections such as India Gold and India Story, the need for a separate section was felt to specially highlight the cinematic leaps that Marathi Cinema has taken over the years. For the last few years, this industry has been undergoing a creative renaissance. With critically acclaimed titles such as Fandry (2013), Killa (2015), Court (2015), Elizabeth Ekdashi (2014), Sairat (2016) and Kaasav (2016), Marathi Cinema has come to embody a cinema that has a social conscience and is pushing boundaries like never before.
Supporting great cinema and fresh talent has always been the core of Jio MAMI Mumbai Festival with Star. Thus, this year the focus of the section is on directorial debuts.
Curated by renowned Marathi film critic, Amol Parchure with the intention to nurture storytellers, Marathi Talkies will feature a blend of released and unreleased titles. Films making a world premiere are Chumbak by National Award Winner Sandeep Modi and Idak by Deepak Gawade. Other films being showcased are the critically acclaimed and popular releases of the year Kaccha Limbu by Prasad Oak, Muramba by Varun Narvekar and Ubuntu by Pushkar Shrotri. Take Care Good Night which was screened at the Cannes Film Market is another highly anticipated feature in the programme.
This year the selection also features an array of acting powerhouses like Mahesh Manjrekar, Irawati Harshe, Sonali Kulkarni and Sachin Khedekar.
Marathi Talkies Line-up
1. Movie Title: Idak
Director: Deepak Gawade
Cast: Sandeep Phatak, Usha Naik, Kishore Kadam, Sandeep Phatak, Usha Naik, Kishore Kadam
Synopsis: Namya’s mother wants a goat. She’s had a dream in which the Mother Goddess has asked for a sacrifice and so Namya, who can’t afford to buy a goat, has to find a way of fulfilling his mother’s and the divine mother’s (presumed) demands. He manages to find a goat, after suffering a fair amount of humiliation. Mother, son and goat then set out to reach the pilgrimage spot where the sacrifice would take place, but the goat is far from an easy travelling companion.
Director’s Bio: Deepak Gawade shifted to films after working in television production for many years. His short film, Heyro Party (2013), won the National Award for Best Film in the Family Values category, in 2014. This is his first full-length feature film.
2. Movie Title: Chumbak by Sandeep Modi
Cast: Sahil Jadhav, Swanand Kirkire, Sangram Desai
Synopsis: Fifteen-year-old Baalu cleans tables at a restaurant in Mumbai. His dream is to have his own sugar cane stand and hoping to make the money quickly, he invests in a dubious scheme. Unfortunately, he loses all his savings. A bitter Baalu decides he’s going to con the world since it doesn’t value his honesty and hard work. So Baalu sets up his own scam, but when the only person to fall for it is an earnest, mentally-challenged man, he must choose between his dream and his humanity.
Director’s Bio: Sandeep Modi is an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. His short film Best Friends Forever won a National Award. This is his first full-length feature film.
3. Movie Title: Take Care Good Night
Director: Girish Joshi
Cast: Sachin Khedekar, Iravati Harshe, Mahesh Manjrekar, Parna Pethe, Aadinath Kothare
Synopsis: Avinash is retired and lives with his wife, Asavari, and daughter, Sanika. His son Sameer is studying abroad. They’re an everyday family whose life is turned upside down when a cyber criminal starts attacking them. First, Avinash is scammed of a chunk of money. Then videos of Sanika are put up online without her knowledge or consent. What can the family do to counter this invisible enemy?
Director’s Bio: Girish Joshi is an actor and write, most prominently known for Kaksparsh (2012), Ek Daav Dhopipachhad (2008) and Kadaachit (2007)
4. Movie Title: Muramba
Director: Varun Narvekar
Synopsis: One day Alok announces to his parents that he and his girlfriend Indu have broken up. His parents are taken aback. Should they interfere in their son’s life and help the couple get back together? Or should they give Alok his ‘space’? Two generations try to appreciate and understand their notions of what a man-woman relationship is.
Cast: Sachin Khedekar, Amey Wagh, Chinmayee Sumit, Mithila Palkar
Director’s Bio: Varun Narvekar is an Indian film writer and director who started his career as the writer for a short film titled Odh (2014). He later worked as an assistant director for The Bright Day (2015). His 2017 release includes Muramba, which marks his directorial debut.
5. Movie Title: Kaccha Limbu
Director: Prasad Oak
Cast: Sonali Kulkarni, Ravi Jadhav, Manmeet Pem, Sachin Khedekar, Ananth Mahadevan
Synopsis: Based on a novel by legendary Marathi novelist, Jaywant Dalvi, this is the story of a couple struggling with raising a mentally-challenged child. While the father sinks into the perpetual night shift at work, the mother drifts towards another man. Meanwhile, their son is 16 years old and growing into his sexuality. Can this family keep from falling apart and come back together? At playgrounds in western India, a kachcha limbu is the underdog.
Director’s Bio: Prasad Oak is a veteran actor, with more than 100 Marathi films, plays and television shows to his credit. He became well established on television with Avaghchi Sansar, playing the role of Harshvardhan Bhosle. He also received critical acclaim for his role in the television series 'Andharyachya Parambya' .In 2011, Prasad gave us a glimpse of his singing ability when he won the singing reality show SaReGaMaPa. Kaccha Limbu is his directorial debut.
6. Movie Title: Ubuntu
Director: Pushkar Shrotri
Cast : Sarang Sathye, Shashank Shende, Kanha Bhave, Bhagyashree Shankpal, Atharva Padhye
Synopsis: When the village schoolmaster has to go back to his own village, he asks one of his brightest students Gauri to hold the fort while he’s away. Gauri finds few parents are interested in sending their children to school if she’s teaching, but she perseveres. In the middle of all this, she learns that a representative from the Education Department will come for inspection. To make sure the school shows 100% attendance, Gauri needs to make sure that she finds one of the brightest students, Abdul. But Abdul has been sent off to work in a nearby town. If Gauri can’t find him, the school might just get closed down.
Director’s Bio: Pushkar Shrotri is a director and an actor in both theatre and films. His work has been much appreciated in Marathi movies such as Kay Dyache Bola (2005) and Haapus (2010). His notable performances in Hindi movies include his role in the 2003 blockbuster Munna Bhai M.B.B.S and its sequel Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006). Pushkar received critical acclaim for his performance as a super cop in the 2014 movie Rege. Ubuntu is his first film as a writer, director and producer.
FILMS FROM RICHARD LINKLATER AND TODD HAYNES
JOIN THE MUMBAI FILM FESTIVAL LINEUP!
JIO MAMI 19TH MUMBAI FILM FESTIVAL WITH STAR PRESENTS THE BEST OF WORLD CINEMA FROM THE 12TH OCTOBER TO 18TH OCTOBER.
The Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star announced 5 new films that will be featured in the World Cinema section in its 19th edition starting 12th October,2017.
The new entrants are part of a range that features veteran directors like Last Flag Flying by Richard Linklater, Wonderstruck by Todd Haynes and ZAMA by Lucrecia Martel as well as emerging directors like German visual artist Julian Rosefeldt and who ventures into the medium of film with Manifesto and Geremy Jasper whose film Patti Cake$ was a breakout hit at this year's Sundance Film Festival.
The World Cinema section at the festival is one of the most eagerly awaited sections at the festival. It showcases the best and latest films from across the world to the Indian audiences.This year the lineup features winners from Cannes Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Berlin Film Festival and Venice Film Festival, from over 50 countries.
Below are the new announcements of World Cinema features to be screened at the festival.
1) Last Flag Flying | Dir: Richard Linklater | USA
Thirty years after they served together in Vietnam, a former Navy Corps medic Larry "Doc" Shepherd re-unites with his old buddies, ex-Marine Sal Nealon and Reverend Richard Mueller, to bury his son, a young Marine killed in the Iraq War.
(World Premiere at the New York Film Festival on 28th Sep, we played Linklater’s Boyhood in 2014)
2) Wonderstruck | Dir: Todd Haynes | USA
In 1927, a young girl runs away from home in New Jersey and makes her way to Manhattan, hoping to find someone who was an important part of her past. Fifty years later, a deaf boy befallen by personal tragedy finds a clue about his family that leads him to run away from rural Minnesota to New York. As their adventures lead them to strange new places, where mysteries about themselves and the world seem to lurk around every corner, their stories of discovery reach across years of silence and regret, and find each other through a mesmerizing symmetry driven by wonder and hope.
(World Premiere at Cannes in May, also playing at NYFF)
3) Patti Cake$ | Dir: Geremy Jasper | USA
Fed up with life in her New Jersey hometown, Patricia Dombrowski, aka Patti Cake$, hopes to follow in the footsteps of her idol and hit the road to achieve stardom as a rapper. With help from her best friend, a mysterious musician and her loving grandmother, Patti leads the charge against an army of haters, unpaid bills and the broken dreams that are holding her back.
(World Premiere at Sundance, also played at SXSW and Cannes Director’s Fortnight, features an Indian actor playing a rapper
4) Manifesto | Dir: Julian Resefeldt | GermanyFrom acclaimed visual artist Julian Rosefeldt, MANIFESTO features two-time Academy Award® winner Cate Blanchett in 13 distinct, must-see vignettes that incorporate timeless manifestos from 20th century art movements. From anchorwoman to homeless man, from Pop Art to Dogma 95, a chameleonic Blanchett gives a tour-de-force performance as she transforms herself like never before. Rosefeldt weaves together history’s most impassioned artistic statements in this stunning and contemporary call to action.
(World Premiere at Sundance, also played at Berlin and Tribeca. Started off as a visual art installation.)
5) Zama | Dir: Lucrecia Martel | Argentina
In a remote South American colony in the late 18th century, officer Zama of the Spanish crown waits in vain for a transfer to a more prestigious location. He suffers small humiliations and petty politicking as he increasingly succumbs to lust and paranoia...
(World Premiere at Venice Film Festival, also played at TIFF, NYFF, Lucrecia’s first film in 9 years
Full List of World Cinema films to be screened at the festival.
1. On Body and Soul by Ildiko Enyedi
2. Dina by Antonio Santini, Dan Sickles
3. The Other Side of Hope by Aki Kaurismaki
4. A Gentle Creature by Sergei Loznitsa
5. Loveless by Andrey Zvyagintsev
6. Spoor by Agnieszka Holland
7. The Party by Sally Potter
8. Beach Rats by Eliza Hittman
9. Loving Pia by Daniel Borgman
10. Vazante by Daniela Thomas
11. Devil's Freedom by Everardo González
12. On the Beach at Night Alone by Hong Sangsoo
13. The Day After by Hong Sangsoo
14. Claire's Camera by Hong Sangsoo
15. Chavela by Catherine Gund and Daresha Kyi
16. Pendular by Julia Murat
17. 24 Frames by Abbas Kiarostami
18. November by Rainer Sarnet
19. One Thousand Ropes by Tusi Tamasese
20. Untitled by Michael Glawogger & Monika Willi
21. Nothingwood by Sonia Kronlund
22. Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts by Mouly Surya
23. California Dreams by Mike Ott
24. The Departure by Lana Wilson
25. Signature Move by Jennifer Reeder
26. Thelma by Joachim Trier
27. Sweet Country by Warwick Thornton
28. Barley Fields on the Other Side of the Mountain by Tian Tsering
29. Wajib by Annemarie Jacir
30. It Comes At Night (2 screenings in WC and 1 in After Dark)
31. Lies We Tell by Mitu Mishra
32. The Florida Project by Sean Baker
33. The Square by Ruben Ostlund
34. Call Me By Your Name by Luca Guadagnino
35. Brigsby Bear by Dave McCary
36. April's Daughter by Michel Franco
37. The Third Murder by Hirokazu Kore-eda
38. Centaur by Aktan Arym Kubat
39. A Suitable Girl by Smriti Mundhra
40. Holy Camp! by Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrossi
41. The Summit by Santiago Mitre
42. Invisible by Pablo Giorgelli
43. City of Ghosts by Matthew Heineman
44. Caniba by Véréna Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor
45. Loving Vincent by Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman
46. Free And Easy by Geng Jun
47. Based On A True Story by Roman Polanski
48. Zama by Lucrecia Martel
49. Manifesto by Julian Rosefeldt
50. Sicilian Ghost Story
51. Patti Cake$ by Geremy Jasper
52. Wonderstruck by Todd Haynes
53. Last Flag Flying by Richard Linklater