MIFF 2014
The 13th annual Mumbai International Film Festival – a week long festival that showcased over 400 documentary, animation, and short films from 35 different countries – ended this week with over 55 lakhs in prize money given away to the award winning films. The competition had both an International and a national category with jury panels that consisted of renowned members of the film community from all around India and around the globe. While the festival showcased talent from all around the world and awarded generous prizes to several films, a few of the key winning selections included:
Invoking Justice by Deepa Dhanraj is set in Southern India and tells the story of a group of Muslim women who take justice into their own hands, forming their own female dominated Jamaat (community council) after losing faith in the male dominated Jamaats of their community.
Best Documentary Film, National (Above 40 mins)
Best Editor — Jabeen Merchant
Have You Seen The Arana? by Sunanda Bhatt – a film shot in Wayanad, Kerala that speaks of a vanishing way of life in the face of development. As a note on the film reads – “As hills flatten, forests disappear and traditional knowledge systems are forgotten, the film reminds us that this diversity could disappear forever, to be replaced by monotonous and unsustainable alternatives.”
Best Documentary Film, National (Above 40 mins)
Best Cinematographer – Saumyananda Sahi
Best Sound Recordist – Chistopher Burchell
In Between : Isang Yun in North and South Korea by Maria Stodtmeier explores the idea of music’s potential to reconcile differences between the divided North and South Korea, exploring the respective region’s political systems in the process.
Best Documentary Film, International (Above 60 mins)
Seven Hundred Zero Zero Seven by Altaf Mazid documents the story of popular and prolific writer Ranju Hazarika.
Best Documentary Film, National (Up to 40 mins) 
Tamaash (The Puppet ) the first film by sibling directors Satyanshu and Devanshu Singh is filmed in Kashmir and revolves around the theme of the preservation of goodness and the innocence of children.
Best Short Fiction Film National (Up to 45 Mins)
Best Cinematographer — Sahir Raza
Best Sound Recordist — Yatin Dabhi, Manoj Sikka, Abhishek Bhattathiri
Gray Fire in the Blood – by Dylan Mohan – speaks about malpractices of Western pharmaceutical companies and governments, and about a small group of people who decided to fight back.
Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari Award for a Director’s Best Debut film
Black Rock by Vikrant Janardan Pawar is a fictional story about Aakash and Sampada – who must leave Aakash the very next day to go and learn the art of painting, leaving him alone and lost in solitude.
Best Short Fiction Film International (Up to 45 Mins)
Best Sound Recordist — Dilip Kumar Ahirwar
True Love Story by Gitanjali Rao is an 18-minute animation film explores the influence of Bollywood on real life in Mumbai. It is set on the streets of Mumbai and told through puppet animation.
Best Animation Film
Are you listening? by Kamar Ahmad Simon is a film from Bangladesh that speaks of the aftermath of destruction in the wake of the region’s annual floods, and how the families of Sutarkhali deal with the devastation and begin rebuilding their lives.
Best Documentary Film International (Above 60 mins)
Best Cinematographer – Kamar Ahmad Simon
Chakravyuh by Dhvani Desai is a short film that illuminates how the RTI can join the fight against corruption, telling its story through the trials and tribulations of four characters from different parts of India.
Most Popular Film of the Festival
Gulabi Gang – by Nishtha Jain revolves around Sampat Pal and her band of female activitists from Bundelkhand who speak out against discrimination and fight for women’s rights.
Best Director
For more on the Mumbai International Film Festival, visit www.miff.in
Photo Credit: MIFF India Films Division
