Thaindian News

Mumbai, Sep 27 (IANS) The Mumbai Film Festival, organized by Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image (MAMI) in collaboration with Reliance Big Entertainment, will hold a world premiere of an international film, the first time ever in an Indian film festival, an official said Monday.

“For the first time in an Indian film festival we are having a world premier. This never happened in the last 60 years of film festivals here. The Danish film called ‘Abobe the Street Below the Water’ directed by Charlotte Sieling will be premiered,” Amit Khanna, chairman Reliance Big Entertainment, told reporters at a press conference at the Sun-n-Sand Hotel Monday.

This year 200 films from 58 countries would be screened during the Oct 21-28 festival. The venues are Chandan Cinema (Juhu) and the adjacent five screens of PVR Juhu, which will function as the Main Festival Complex along with two screens of Metro Big Cinemas (Marine Lines) and one screen of R City (Ghatkopar).

The film festival would be the first of its kind to have a film business centre through which independent filmmakers would get exposed to the world’s top 25 film-distributing companies.

“There have always been complaints from filmmakers that they never had a film market. No business is conducted. NFDC has tried its best in the past but somehow or the other never managed to get serious buyers there. Fortunately Reliance Entertainment Group has a significant interest in business all over the world. So we were able to tap our resources and happily the top 25 buyers of the world, are attending this festival.

“Besides, the five major studios the 25 sales and marketing companies are the people who release almost 70 percent of the independent cinema across the world.

“The idea behind this business centre is that a small independent filmmaker, who does not have the resources to travel around the world, will have the opportunity to actually come and register and there will be facilities to screen their films,” said Khanna.