Ralang Road, Mukkabaaz, Zoo lead India Gold section of 19th MAMI International Film Festival

The line-up for the 19th MAMI (Mumbai Academy of Moving Images) International Film Festival was released today with several Indian films competing for the top prizes.

The India Gold section of the competition particularly stands out for its eclectic mix of films from across the country.

Several films from the recent Toronto International Film Festival will make their India premieres at the MAMI International Film Festival this year. These include Anurag Kashyap's awaited Mukkabaaz. Kashyap, who was supposed to take the film to the Busan International Film Festival has decided to hold the premiere at MAMI instead. At the press conference, Kashyap said, "For me to premiere at MAMI is a thing of pride." 

Devashish Makhija's Ajji, Shlok Sharma's Zoo, and In the Shadows, starring Manoj Bajpayee, are among the many names listed in the section.

The section also features several films from the North East. Assamese film Village Rockstars by Rima Das, which was recently screened at Toronto International Film Festival 2017, and Kho Ki Pa Lu (Up, Down and Sideways) from Nagaland have made it to the India Gold section. They are joined by another critically acclaimed film based in Sikkim, Ralang Road directed by Karma Takapa. 

Sanal Sasidharan's critically acclaimed Malayalam film Sexy Durga is a film to look forward to in the section. The film won the prestigious Hivos Tiger Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in January. Crowd-funded and crowd-directed film by the Ektara Collective, Turup (Checkmate) is another entry.

Dipesh Jain's In The Shadows (Gali Guliyan) starring Bajpayee and Sharma's Zoo with Shweta Tripathi in the lead, will also be screened at the festival, along with another TIFF nominee, Ashwatthama by Pushpendra Singh.

The international jury for the festival includes actress director Konkona Sensharma, Argentine writer director Santiago Mitre, cinematographer Alexis Zabe and Chinese actress Celina Jade. The international jury is headed by John Madden, director of acclaimed films like Shakespeare in Love (1998) and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011). The jury for the India Gold section has not been announced as yet.

The MAMI Mumbai International Film Festival 2017 will see a total of 200 films from 49 countries, and will be held from 12-18 October 2017.