The 17th edition of the Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short Fiction, and Animation films (MIFF-2022) began with a colorful opening ceremony at the Nehru Centre, Worli in Mumbai today.
Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textiles Piyush Goyal inaugurated the seven-day festival organized by the Films Division of Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.
In commemoration of Bangladesh’s 50 years of Independence the country has been chosen as the ‘Country of Focus’ this year. A special package of 11 films from Bangladesh including the critically acclaimed film ‘Hasina- A Daughter’s Tale will be presented at MIFF 2022.
At the opening ceremony, the coveted Dr. V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred upon veteran documentary film maker and author Sanjit Narwekar, for his contribution to films through his writings especially film history and the documentary film movement. Narwekar has written and edited more than 20 books on cinema, including ‘Marathi Cinema in Retrospect’, which won him the Swarna Kamal at the National Film Awards. The V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award carries a cash prize of Rs 10 lakhs (Rs 1 million), Golden Conch and a citation. This award is instituted in memory of legendary filmmaker V Shantaram, who was closely associated with Films Division as Honorary Chief Producer during the 1950s.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Piyush Goyal said those who produce art films, documentary films and animation films are kind of a Start-Up seeding new ideas and play role of messengers in the country. He said today there are multiple avenues like silver screen, television, OTT etc are available to spread the message across the world, thus giving an opportunity for such ‘start-ups’ to become ‘Unicorns’.
The Minister said Lata Mangeshkar was an inspiration for many artistes and musicians and through art she took India’s history, tradition and heritage to the world. “Let us explore ways as to how we can institutionalize Lata Didi’s role for the country, the city of Mumbai and the Cinema world itself.