MIFF 2010 to be held in Mumbai from February 3-9

M.I.F.F 2010 logo

The 11th edition of MIFF, the Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films will be held at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) here from February 3-9.

Mr Kuldeep Singh, Chief Producer of the Films Division, the organiser of the event, and Festival Director told a press conference here today that MIFF had come a long way since it started in 1990 and was now rated among the world's best and largest documentary film festivals.

"It has now gained recognition on par with renowned International Film Festivals like Leipzig, Berlin, Oberhausen, Krakow and Tampere," he remarked.

From this year's edition onwards, the International and the Indian Competition Sections have been merged into one Competitive Section.

“Indian documentary producers have now achieved high level of creative as well as technical excellence, to compete with the best in the world," Mr Singh said.

He said the award money has been enhanced in each category and the total award money now stood at Rs 22.75 lakhs. The best short film / documentary (upto 30 minutes) will be awarded a Golden Conch and Rs 3,00,000 cash prize. Another Golden Conch and Rs 3,00,000 award will be given to the best film/ documentary over 30 minutes duration. There are also awards for best animation film, fiction film and student’s film.

The Government of Maharashtra’s Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari will give a Trophy and Rs 1,00,000 for best debut film of a director.

The Dr V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award will be awarded to an Indian film maker for his or her contribution to the documentary film movement.

Apart from Competition Section, there will be screening of Retrospectives and Special packages, Spectrum India, Seminars and Open Forum during MIFF 2010.

In Retrospectives & Special Packages, there will be jury’s retrospectives, women packages, Oscar nominated films, films on immigration issues, environment, global warming, cinema legends and icons of Indian Freedom Movement.

In Country Focus, films from Bhutan, and Argentina will be screened. The Students' Package will see films from L.V. Prasad Institute, Chennai, SRFTII, Kolkata, and NID, Ahmedabad. Other sections include films from North East India, treasure from the National Film Archives of India (NFAI), Puppet Films and lots more.

National Film Archives of India, Pune will also stage a unique show of pre-cinema projection technique called ‘Shambharik Kharolika’ or the magic lantern.

Mr Singh said MIFF had received a record 864 entries from 37 countries this year. The Selection Committee, consisting of eminent film makers, journalists and critics, had previewed the films, the total duration of which crosses more than 400 hours.

Of these, 64 films have been selected for the Competition Section and 43 films have been selected for the Non-Competition Section.

NNN