The physical edition was cancelled in 2020 owing to the pandemic and, in 2021, it was postponed. MORE THAN 15 independent filmmakers, from among the 30-plus selected for this year’s cancelled Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, wrote an open letter on Friday, unhappy with MAMI’s online screenings for 48 hours for a film, in February-March, instead of a physical festival.
In their letter, they made “a public appeal for MAMI to plan a set of physical screenings, and to the people of Mumbai to express their support”.
The physical edition was cancelled in 2020 owing to the pandemic and, in 2021, it was postponed. “The 22nd edition would normally have taken place in November 2021, but was postponed till March 11-15, 2022,” the letter said.
On February 4, festival organiser Mumbai Academy of Moving Images (MAMI) told the filmmakers that “despite our best efforts, it has become untenable for us to hold the festival in March. The continuing pandemic, logistical and financial challenges have contributed to this… we are (trying) to figure out how we can bring back the festival”.
The filmmakers have written twice earlier to MAMI, to which the latter has replied.
“Just a week prior to this communication, we were asked to send our film (viewing) links, then what happened in a week? The abruptness is odd,” said National Award-winning filmmaker Gurvinder Singh, whose new film Adh Chanani Raat was to premiere in the India Gold section. He and Irfana Majumdar (Shankar’s Fairies) opted out of the online screenings.
“It doesn’t qualify as a festival,” said Majumdar, as Singh cited “huge issue with piracy”.
Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, who withdrew his Tovino Thomas-starrer Vazhakku, said, “If MAMI is going the ‘silent death’ way, it’s really sad.”
Achal Mishra (Dhuin) agreed to screen but signed the letter. “It’s not just about my film, but independent films in general. A lot of us were disappointed. We went ahead because our film is 50-minute long, which limits our festival/release possibilities, and MAMI, physical or online, seemed like the only option to show it to the audiences,” he said.
The other signatories of the letter included Aditya Vikram Sengupta, Payal Kapadia, Ranabir Das and Haobam Paban Kumar.
MAMI is yet to respond to the open letter.
When the 2014 edition was hit by fund crunch as sponsor Reliance Entertainment pulled out, the state government, film industry, industrialists and cinephiles came together to raise Rs 5 crore for it.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
