Cinema spree continues on Day 7 of 16th Mumbai film festival

It has been a week since the 16th Mumbai Film Festival started and cine goers are yearning for more with every passing day. An exciting mix of movies, master classes, music and more personified cinema at its best ever at India’s biggest film carnival running at Chandan Cinema, PVR Andheri and Cinemax Versova from October 14-21, 2014.

Cine goers at Chandan have got habituated to grab a seat for some daily movie magic that began on Day 7 with a hat-trick of Arab cinema celebration as Mohamed Khan’s 1987 exciting Egyptian drama ‘The Wife of an Important Man’, Mohamed Khan’s 1989 black & white film ‘Dreams of Hind and Camilia’ and Merzak Allouache’s 1994 film ‘Bab el Oued City’ were screened. Edward Berger’s German adolescent drama ‘Jack’ and Michel Hazanavicius’ French drama ‘The Search’ followed next.

At PVR Andheri, Italian crime drama ‘Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion’ directed by Elio Petrifilm in the Restored Classic segment left an indelible period feel of the 70s. The lineup of World Cinema such as Marcelo Galvão’s Brazilian film ‘Farewell’, Anne Villacèque’s French film ‘Weekends in Normandy’, Tayfun Pirselimoğlu’s 2013 film ‘I Am Not Him’, Vladimir Khotinenko’s Russian film ‘Demons’ and Ken Loach’s ‘Jimmy’s Hall’ thoroughly indulged every movie buff.  The cinematic carnival also showcased Sonja Prosenc’s Slovenian film ‘The Tree’, Sudabeh Mortezai’s Austrian film ‘Macondo’, Sanjib Sabhapandit’s Assamese film ‘The Pulsating Mindscape’, Malyalam film ‘Names Unknown’ directed by Dr. Biju, Raphaël Neal’s French film ‘Fever’, Naji Abu Nowar’s ‘Theeb’, Spanish film ‘Schimbare’ directed by Alex Sampayo contending under International Competition.

Films such as  Mashti Esmaeil’s Iranian film ‘Mahdi Zamanpoor’, Ron Mann’s ‘Altman’, Mahendra Teredesai’s Marathi film ‘Dombivli Return’, Thomas Cailley’s ‘Love at First Fight’, Olivier Assayas’ ‘Clouds Of Sils Maria’, André Téchiné’s ‘French Riviera’ and Bertrand Bonello’s French biography drama ‘Saint Laurent’ across different sections ensured that film lovers had a lasting cinematic memory to take along. That’s not all, film aficionados at PVR got more choices than they anticipated with screenings such as Grigoriy Chukhray’s Russian black & white film ‘Ballad of a Soldier’, Karen Shakhnazarov’s Russian film ‘Rider Named Death’ marking Celebration of 90 Years of MOSFILM Studio, and Attila Szász’s Hungarian film ‘The Ambassador To Bern’, Levent Çetin’s Tukish film ‘Civilian’ and Sallas de Jager’s  South African film ‘Musiek vir die Agtergrond’  under Above the Cut segments.

Cinemax Versova kept the film buffs hooked on to a versatile lineup of films ranging from Hoku Uchiyama’s 2013 American documentary ‘Upaj: Improvise’ under the Real Reel, 2004 father-son pilgrimage film ‘The Big Journey’ directed by Ismaël Ferroukhi under Celebration of Arab Cinema, Tommy Lee Jones’ American western drama ‘The Homesman’ as the World Cinema gem of the day, Mathieu Amalric’s ‘The Blue Room’ and Christophe Honoré’s ‘Metamorphoses’ within Rendez-vous with French Cinema segments.

Choices ranging from Ana Lily Amirpour’s vampire film ‘A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night’, Marie Amachoukeli, Claire Burger, Samuel Theis’ French film ‘Party Girl’ in Above the Cut, Manu Warrier’s Hindi film ‘Coffee Bloom’, Bramma G.’s Tamil film ‘The Punishment’ in New Faces of Indian Cinema, to Sergei Eisenstein ‘s  Russian 1938 black & white film ‘Alexander Nevsky’, Sergei Bondarchuk’s 1968 classic Alexander, left city’s cine goers beaming with delight on a movie-studded Monday.

While the International Competition segment dazzled bright with films such as Churni Ganguly Bengali film ‘Banished’, Mini Padma’s Malayalam-Paniya film ‘Earth Seeking Shades’, Asaf Korman’s Israeli film ‘Next to Her’, Yann Demange’s British film ‘‘71’ and Chaitanya Tamhane’s Indian regional film ‘Court’; the Dimensions Mumbai segment on its 2nd day witnessed films set in the tinsel town competing neck to neck to stand out to judges and Mumbaikars alike.

Movie lovers were in for a surprise when they spotted the new age Bollywood rage Rajkumar Rao grace the evening. As the sun set, talented film maker Imtiaz Alia met Indian cinema stalwarts including Shyam Benegal, Nafisa Ali,  Govind Nihalani and Kunal Kapoor over FC Roundtable conversation about the film ‘Junoon’ which was later presented by Imtiaz Ali as part of FC Director Choice.

Before drawing the curtains actors Kal Penn & Rajpal Yadav launched  the first look and  behind-the-scenes footage from their upcoming film ‘Bhopal: A Prayer For Rain’. A social thriller based on the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984 is produced by Sahara Movie Studios and Rising Star Entertainment.

Studded with world’s best movies, master sessions and lasting memories, Day 7 became this year’s most exciting Monday that closed on a starry note. But knowing the 16th Mumbai Film Festival’s love for surprises, there is surely a miraculous last and final day in store.