Mumbai Film Festival made simple

Sure as the post-monsoon heat wave, the 13th Mumbai Film Festival is upon us.

From October 13 to 21 book a babysitter, cash in your sick leave and say no to everything. Then escape to Andheri and settle into an air-conditioned theater seat at the festival's main new screening venue at Cinemax Versova for an impressive lineup of more than 200 films this year.

Some festival films will be screened at the Cinemax Sion and at Metro Big Cinema, but the main action will be around Infiniti Mall on Link Road in Andheri where Cinemax Versova is located.

If you thought last year's program was ambitious, the choice just gets better.

“We're proud of the fact that the Mumbai Film Festival is fast getting to be recognized as the best international film festival in the country,” says filmmaker Shyam Benegal, chairman of the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image (MAMI) which presents the Mumbai Film Festival each year.

Cinemax Sion, Sion Circle, Sion West, Sion (W); +91 (0)22 2404 2643; www.cinemax.co.in

Cinemax Versova, Infiniti Mall, New Link Road, Andheri (W); +91 (0)22 263 1335; www.cinemax.co.in

Metro Big Cinema, M.G.Road, Dhobitalao Junction; +91 (0)22 3984 4060; www.bigcinemas.com

Praise the lord, a break from Bollywood

Like any film festival in the world, the Mumbai Film Festival is a chance to watch choice international cinema -- in a cinema.

The event becomes more special in Mumbai however, because foreign films, let alone art or indie, otherwise do not get a theatrical release in local movie theaters.

The Mumbai Film Festival is fast getting to be the best international film festival in the country,” says Shyam Benegal, MAMI chairman

Kicking the fest off is the Brad Pitt-starrer “Moneyball” while “Dolphin Tale” starring Morgan Freeman will close the festival on October 21.

There’s "Faust," Alexander Sokurov’s Venice Film Festival Golden Lion winner, and George Clooney’s "The Ides of March" which will both require you to turn up early for a good seat.

For those Pina Bausch lovers, who caught the incredibly lyrical “Bamboo Blues” in Mumbai in 2008, there’s Wim Wenders' equally moving tribute to a contemporary dance legend, titled “Pina."

In fact, the whole Mumbai Film Festival offering is a rather welcome break from Bollywood's sensibility which tends to have an overpowering effect on cultural life in Mumbai.

"There are many special things about the Mumbai Film Festival but one of the things we are especially proud of is that it is a festival of discovery," adds festival programmer Anu Rangachar.

"We are encouraging debut filmmakers in the 'International Competition for the First Feature Films of Directors' section and young filmmakers in 'Dimensions Mumbai' section,” she says.

There are nine sections to the festival in total.

What to watch: Festival classics and first-time directors

This year’s big ticket draw is the celebration of 50 years of the Cannes Critics Week winning films -- in other words, a chance to catch up on festival classics such as Jacques Audiard’s "See How They Fall," Ken Loach’s "Kes" and Wong Kar-Wai’s "As Tears Go By."

As a long-time Mumbai film festival-goer (try 12 years), there’s something about seeing old favorites on the big screen again.

The jury president for the international competition this year is English director Hugh Hudson, best known in India for directing “Chariots of Fire".

There's a retrospective of his films, including "Lost Angels" and "I Dreamed of Africa", being screened at the festival this year.

Directors Roger Spottiswoode, Jerzy Skolimowski and Na-Hong Jin join Hudson in judging the 14 films in the competition section.

The competition films are all directors' first feature films and the prize money has been upped from US$150,000 to US$200,000 this year.

These include Pablo Giorgelli’s quiet road movie “Las Acacias” and Leena Manimekalai’s “The Dead Sea."

But most will want to catch Julia Leigh’s “Sleeping Beauty” on the strength of its brilliant and provocative trailer; though the movie itself seems to have disappointed audiences and critics.

And there's more ...

As someone who's been attending the Mumbai Film Festival since it was held exclusively in South Mumbai, the documentary section, "Real Reel" is my favorite.

Here Pip Chodorov excavates archival material for “Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film," Juan Jose Lozano and Hollman Morris capture Colombia’s paramilitary demobilization process in “Impunity” and Ali Samadi Ahadi catches the Iranian election fervor in “The Green Wave."

In the world cinema offering, the top picks are Nuri Ceylan Bilge’s “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia," Tom McCarthy’s “Win Win," and Mike Cahill’s Sundance winner, “Another Earth."

However the must-watch here is Bela Tarr's film "The Turin Horse". Don't miss this newest release from the Hungarian master.

Also catch S.J. Clarkson’s "Toast" and Paula Markovitch’s "The Prize" in 'Above the Cut', the section for noteworthy films from the past year.

Tributes to recently deceased Indian actor Shammi Kapoor, director Mani Kaul and painter-director M.F. Hussain will also be held, in their honor.

In case you're wondering about the artist's connection to the film world, Hussain made a dialogue-free, 15-minute short film set in Rajasthan which impressed international film critics at the Berlin Film Festival, and earned a Golden Bear award.

Thirty-three years later came Hussain's next film "Gaja Gamini" featuring Bollwyood's Madhuri Dixit.

Throw in a new French cinema section and a selection of the latest Asian films from Busan International Film Festival handpicked by festival director Lee Yong Kwan, and that's more than 200 films in nine days.

More on CNNGo: Busan International Film Festival 2011: Asia's largest film festival gets a major makeover

You say you love film?

Now that the importance of a good script has gained currency in a film industry which has survived decades on sheer star power, the Mumbai Film Festival has organized directors Dani Levy, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Thorsten Schulz and screenwriters Arjun Rajabali and Sooni Taraporevala to conduct workshops on scriptwriting.

Hugh Hudson will conduct a master class on film direction.

Can I just show up? No, you can't

You need to register on the spot at any of the three venues: Cinemax Versova, Cinemax Sion and at Metro Big Cinema. 

Collect your catalog of the screening schedule, and look out for changes in the daily bulletin, which the festival posts on its website. Sometimes a re-screening of a popular film is announced and you don’t want to miss that.

Argue about the movies at Indigo Café, the new Woodside restaurant or the numerous low-tech eating places at Infiniti Mall.

Then, during a break, put on your shades like a movie star and have a coffee at Svenska, a nearby new boutique hotel.

The best bar this side is WTF!, a fun, if a little grungy, after-work bar in Andheri that fits the Mumbai Film Festival's casual vibe.

Indigo Café, Clifton Trishool Housing Society, Oshiwara Village, Link Road, Lokhandwala, Andheri (W); +91 (0)22 2633 5709; www.indigocafe.in

Woodside, New Link Plaza, Oshiwara Link Road, next to Oshiwara Police Station, Andheri (W); +91 (0)22 2632 8963/2633 6549; woodsideinn.in

WTF!, Jewel Shopping Center, 7 Bungalows, Versova, Andheri (W); +91 (0) 99678 93416