With the lofty Gateway of India as the backdrop, the organisers of Jio Mami film festival flagged off the opening ceremony.
With the lofty Gateway of India as the backdrop, the organisers of Jio Mami film festival flagged off the opening ceremony. The festival this time has expanded in scale with the support of the government of Maharashtra and Reliance industries.
Declaring the 17th edition of the festival open, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “I’m really happy that Jio Mami, Mumbai’s own film festival is opening at such a historic venue. A few years ago the same venue was under siege. Through this we want to showcase a symbol of resilience. Nothing can terrorise Mumbai and Mumbaikars. Mumbai accounts for 60 per cent of cinema, television and documentaries produced in India.
“We want to make the city an entertainment hub, we want to create state-of-the-art facilities in the film city that are at par with global standards. I assure Mami organisers full support from the government of Maharashtra every year.”
The festival will run till November 5. Face of the title sponsor, Nita Ambani, who presented the CM with the token of the festival, said, “With Jio Mami we are committed to making this festival a distinguished platform. May this festival be the true gateway to Indian excellence in cinema.”Festival director Anupama Chopra said, “With support from the government of Maharashtra and Jio, Hindi film industry actors, friends and total strangers, we stand before you reinvented.
“I believe good films can make us better people. Thank you for making this fest happen.” The evening also saw the Excellence in Cinema award given to Israeli filmmaker Amos Gaiti and the screenwriting duo of Salim-Javed. While Shyam Benegal presented the award to Gaiti, Rajkumar Hirani presented it to Javed Akhtar and Sohail Khan, who accepted the award on his father’s behalf, as he couldn’t make it due to health reasons.
Host Kalki Koechlin announced the jury members of all categories. The international film jury has Vidya Balan as one of its members. Ava Duvernay is head of the jury that also includes Cameron Bailey of TIFF Christina Voros and Saleh Bakri.
