Mumbai Film Festival Unveils South Asia Competition; ‘All We Imagine As Light’ Set As Opening Film

Mumbai Film Festival has announced the 11 titles selected for its South Asia competition, the main competitive section of the festival, which includes the UK’s Oscars submission, Sandhya Suri’s Santosh, making its South Asian premiere. 

The line-up also includes Nepal’s Oscars submission, Min Bahadur Bham’s Shambhala, along with one other Nepali title – Deepak Rauniyar’s Pooja, Sir – and Bhutanese title Agent Of Happiness, directed by Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbo. 

Indian titles in the competition include Rima Das’ Village Rockstars 2, which recently won a Jiseok award at Busan International Film Festival; multiple award-winner Girls Will Be Girls, by Shuchi Talati; Raam Reddy’s The Fable and Midhun Murali’s Kiss Wagon (see full line-up below). 

The non competitive Focus South Asia section is screening ten features and 13 shorts, including a title from Afghanistan – Roya Sadat’s The Sharp Edge Of Peace – and a short film from Myanmar, Comrade Poopy, made by an anonymous filmmaker about a couple escaping the recent military coup. 

Mumbai film festival, which is organised by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI), expanded its competition section from India to other South Asian nations for the first time at last year’s edition, which was the first in a physical format following the pandemic. 

This year, the festival is taking place in a shorter, stripped down format (October 19-24) after losing its title sponsor, Mukesh Ambani’s Jio, but plans to ramp up again for next year’s edition. MAMI board member and renowned filmmaker and archivist Shivendra Singh Dungarpur has stepped in to steer the festival through its transition. 

Cannes Grand Prix winner All We Imagine As Light, directed by Payal Kapadia, will open the festival, while Sean Baker’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anora will play as the closing film. 

Gala premieres include five Indian films – Kanu Behl’s Despatch, Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Ghamasaan, Sonal Dabral’s Go Noni Go, Suman Ghosh’s The Ancient and My Melbourne, from Kabir Kahn, Imtiaz Ali, Onir and Rima Das. 

The World Cinema section will screen 41 titles, including a crop of festival favourites such as Emilia Perez, The Substance and The Room Next Door – and a strong selection of debut and sophomore features, including April, from Georgian filmmaker Dea Kulumbegashvili, Matthew Rankin’s Universal Language, Agathe Riedinger’s Wild Diamond and Truong Minh Quy’s Viet And Nam. 

The festival also features two competitive sections of short films – Dimensions Mumbai, featuring shorts from emerging filmmakers, and the Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films, bringing together short films from both aspiring and established filmmakers. 

Mumbai Film Festival 2024 South Asia Competition: 

Agent Of Happiness, by Arun Bhattarai, Dorottya Zurbó (Bhutan, Hungary)

Girls Will Be Girls, by Shuchi Talati (France, India, Norway)

Kiss Wagon, by Midhun Murali (India)

Little Jaffna, by Lawrence Valin (France)

Nocturnes, by Anirban Dutta, Anupama Srinivasan (India, US)

Pooja, Sir, by Deepak Rauniyar (Nepal, Norway, US)

Rhythm Of A Flower, by Amit Dutta (India)

Santosh, by Sandhya Suri (UK, Germany, France, India)

Shambhala, by Min Bahadur Bham (Nepal, France, Norway, Hong Kong, Turkey, Taiwan, US)

The Fable, by Raam Reddy (India, US)

Village Rockstars 2, by Rima Das (India)