If grandeur met art on Day 1, Day 2 of the 15th edition of the Mumbai Film Festival organized by the Mumbai Association of Moving Images (MAMI) and presented by Reliance Entertainment witnessed the harmony of passion and cinema. With exciting films from across the world being screened at Liberty and Metro Cinemas at Marine Lines and Cinemax, Versova patrons were hard-pressed to choose between masterpieces.

Beginning at 10 am and carrying all the way up to 10 pm, the impressive lineup of films included Hush directed by Lukas Nola, A Fold in My Blanket by Zara Rusadze, Liar’s Dice by Geethu Mohandas, Blackmail by the legendary Alfred Hitchcock and the Ax by recent Lifetime Achievement Award winner Costa Gavras and many more.

The afternoon commenced with the opening of the Mumbai Film Mart at Metro Cinemas, Marine Lines. The B2B platform, in its third year promised to further efforts to facilitate Indian cinemas reaching international audiences. Present at the Opening of the Mart were Present at the inauguration were renowned actor, Nandita Das, Mukesh Bhat, President, Film & Television Producers Guild of India, Uday Singh, Managing Director, MPAA, Kulmeet Makkar, CEO, Film & Television Producers Guild of India, Susana De La Sierra, Director General, ICAA, (Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts) Spain, Ganesh Jain, President, Indian Council for IMPEX of Films & TV programmes , Amit Khanna, Trustee MAMI, MFM Spanish Delegation, representatives from various consulates including Mr Domingo Maso, Consul General of Spain and other dignitaries.

Particularly erudite was the tete-a-tete with French film director, writer and critic Leos Carax. The 2012 Cannes Film Festival ‘Award of the Youth’ winner for writing and directing Holy Motors, took the audience through his journey as a film maker, important aspects of the art and the attributes that enable one to become a good director.

The succeeding event was an open forum panel discussion moderated by Liz Shakleton, Screen International, Asia chief addressing the question ‘do film festivals help films achieve success’ The panellists included French producer of Oscar winning films No Man’s Land and An Episode of an Iron Picker, Mr. Marc Baschet, Umesh Kulkarni, Anand Gandhi and Peter Van Hoof, Programmer for the International Film Festival of Rotterdam. Important questions by the audience received closure with some insightful answers by the panellists.

The first film in the India Gold 2013 category, Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost, directed by Anup Singh was screened at Metro Cinemas. Starring Irrfan Khan, Tillotama Shome and Rasika Dugal, the movie is about a Sikh who is forced to leave his homeland during the separation of India in 1947. Obsessively wishing for a male heir, he wages war against destiny after the birth of his fourth daughter. Tillotama Shome, Tisca Chopra and Rasika Dugal.

As the sun began to set, silent film Blackmail was screened with live music, as part of the Mumai Film’s Festival’s restrospective section.

The evening also saw the opening of the Rendezvous with French cinema section, which is held in colaboration with UniFrance and the French Embassy. The opening of this truly special section saw the attendance of the entire french delegation, including Mr Costa Gavras, Ms Nathalie Baye, Mr Asghar Farhadi, Mr Guillaume Brac, Mr Marc Baschet, Ms Isabelle Dubar, Mr Xavier Lardoux, Mr. Jean Raphael Peytregnet, Consul General, French Consulate in Mumbai amongst others. Also present at the special evening were Mr Shyam Benegal, Mr Amit Khanna, Mr Kiran Shantaram and Ms Nadita Das, who along with the French delegation lit the ceremonial lamp.

On Day 3, Academy member Robert Neuman will delve into the world of 3D in a truly special workshop, describing the processes and challenges behind this modern technology that has invaded films. Embellished with captivating cinematic works, Day 3 augurs well for cinema buffs.

The 15th Mumbai Film Festival thanks its main Sponsor Reliance Entertainment and special thanks to the Government of Maharashtra, Venue Partner Vivanta by Taj President, Liberty Cinemas, Cinemax , Metro Big Cinemas. Reliance Media Works and Real Image.

About Mumbai Film Festival: The 15th Mumbai Film Festival, a Reliance Entertainment initiative is organized by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) and supported by the Dept. of Culture, Government of Maharashtra – 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: Ramesh Sippy, Sudhir Mishra, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Karan Johar, Anurag Kashyap, renowned actresses Shabana Azmi and Jaya Bachchan, actor-director Amol Palekar and Farhan Akhtar lyricist, writer and director Amit Khanna.