INDIA Rajendra Joshi

101 best documentary and short films to be showcased during MIFF 2012 Prize Money almost doubled.  

The 12th edition of the biennial Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films (MIFF 2012) will be held at the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai from February 3 – 9, 2012.

From a micro animation of 33 seconds to a 200 minutes documentary, MIFF 2012 received a record 791 entries from all over the world with 37 countries entering the festival. There were 224 entries in the International Section with major participation from Hong Kong, USA, Spain, Israel and Australia. The Indian competition section received 567 entries, with Maharashtra, particularly Mumbai accounting for almost a third of them. Delhi, West Bengal, Tamilnadu, Karnataka ,Assam, and Manipur sent large number of entries.

Apart from Indian and International competitions in documentary, fiction and animation categories, the festival has acclaimed films sourced from India and abroad in special packages and retrospectives. These include the much-admired Eye Candy Animation, films from Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Venezuela, Netherlands and Balkan shorts, best of festivals, films from film schools, world war specials, North East package, PSBT films, Expresion enCorto from Mexico and decades’ cream by FTII.

 Another attraction is MIFF salute to the all-time greats, Gurudev Ravindranath Tagore and Satyajit Ray, to commemorate their 150th year and centenary respectively.  The Homage section includes films of Mani Kaul, MV Krishnaswamy, BD Garga, PB Pendharkar, Zull Velani and Pratap Sharma.

 Seminar, workshops and Open Forum on various aspects of short film genre will be organized by the Indian Documentary Producers Association (IDPA) during the festival.  Also, Master classes by veteran film makers and workshop on animation and Canon D7 camera will be held during MIFF 2012.

Beginning its momentous journey in 1990, MIFF has grown in size and stature as one of the premier global events of documentary film movement. With successful  11 editions to its credit,  MIFF is considered on par with acclaimed international film festivals like Leipzig, Berlin, Oberhausen, Cracow, Yamagata and Tampere.

 Report by Rajendra Joshi