28 Films you cannot miss at the 20th Mumbai Film Festival (Part 1)

By Asian Film Festival on October 23, 2018 • ( Leave a comment )

These are twenty-eight films you cannot miss at the Jio MAMI 20th Mumbai Film Festival with Star which will take place from October 25th – November 1st, in Mumbia, India.

A Land Imagined by Yeo Siew Hua – France, Netherland, Singapore | 2018 – 95 min.
Section: World Cinema

After forming a virtual friendship with a mysterious gamer, Wang, a lonely construction worker from China, goes missing at a Singapore land reclamation site. Lok, a police investigator, has to uncover the truth in order to find him.

Trailer:

Amaltash by Suhas Desale – India | 2018 – 114 min.
Section: Marathi Talkies

A beam of early morning sun, a warm cup of tea, a tune of sonata. Rahul, a musician, lives a content life with his near and dear ones, tucked away in the singular charms of his little world. A delightful serendipity smiles on him, and he meets a sweet and spontaneous girl, Keerti. She is drawn to him and his music. But things are not what they seem, as Rahul is cursed by a demon from his past.

Trailer:

An elephant sitting still by Hu Bo – China | 2018 – 234 min.
Section: International Competition

The story links together the lives of a number of protagonists, narrating the course of one single, tension-filled day from dawn to dusk, and along the way, painting a portrait of a society marked by selfishness.

Trailer:

Bardo by Bhimrao Mude – India | 2018 – 125 min.
Section: Marathi Talkies

Bardo, set in an extremely small and remote village of Dhanor, tells the story of how the dreams of villagers are realised as Ashalata, a schoolteacher, enters their lives. The two best swimmer kids in the village, Babu and Pintya, attract Ashalata’s attention, and she sees her own dreams in them. Meanwhile, Theory, an aspiring researcher and the smartest person around, gets agitated yet excited by Ashalata’s arrival and tries finding out the reason behind every move of hers.

Bodhi (Buddha) by Vinit Chandrasekharan – India | 2018 – 100 min.
Section: India Gold

In the drought stricken eastern part of Maharashtra where close to 23,000 farmers have committed suicide since 2009, the Christian missionaries decide to sell the land which was given to the Dalits in exchange of their conversion to Christianity a couple of decades ago. Father Benedict Deddario is entrusted with this task. His biggest roadblock is the poor local Dalit leader Vinya. Besides the land tussle, Benedict is shaken by Vinya’s resistance and unwillingness to convert to Christianity. Benedict will stop at nothing to not only sell the land but also get Vinya to convert—even if that means using Vinya’s power hungry wife against him.

Bulbul Can Sing by Rima Das – India | 2018 – 90 min.
Section: India Gold

Bulbul, a school-going teenage girl in rural Assam, falls in love. As she is on the verge of discovering her teenage years, a tragedy strikes her best friend. Bulbul — free spirited, rebellious, and stubborn — begins to question herself and her love life. Caught amid adolescence, love, and secrecy, mixed with passion and mindless societal dogma, Bulbul nevertheless strives for survival and freedom.

Burning by Lee Chang-Dong – South Korea | 2018 – 148 min.
Section: World Cinema

Deliveryman Jongsu is out on a job when he runs into Haemi, a girl who once lived in his neighborhood. She asks him if he’d mind looking after her cat while she’s away on a trip to Africa. On her return she introduces Jongsu to Ben, an enigmatic young man she met during the trip. And one day Ben tells Jongsu about his most unusual hobby…

Trailer:

Chippa by Safdar Rahman – India | 2018 – 90 min.
Section: Discovering India

On the eve of his 10th birthday, when he is handed a letter written to him by his long absent father, Chippa decides to leave his pavement abode and out more. What follows is a journey he takes into an enchanting world he creates for himself through one wintry night in Kolkata

English Vinglish by Gauri Shinde – India | 2012 – 134 min.
Section: MAMI Tribute

The story of a quiet, sweet tempered housewife who endures small slights from her well educated husband and daughter everyday because of her inability to speak and understand English. She is resourceful and open-minded but somehow these traits don’t get noticed by them. Then one day on a trip to visit her sister in Manhattan she decides to enroll in an English Learners class and meets a host of new people who teach her to value herself beyond the narrow perspective of her family.

Schedule:
November 1st | Thursday | PVR KURLA AUDI 8 | 1:30 pm

Grass by Hong Sang-soo – South Korea | 2017 – 66 min.
Section: World Cinema

Down an alley where one wouldn’t expect to find such a place, there is a coffeehouse where people sit here and there talking among themselves. Opposite the coffeehouse, the owner of a small grocery has planted various kinds of vegetables that sprout inside large rubber basins. As time passes, the people sitting at different tables grow familiar with each other and start to mix. One woman observes the others and writes down her thoughts. Even as the night grows late, they all remain in the coffeehouse.

Trailer:

Hamid by Aijaz Khan – India | 2018 – 108 min.
Section: India Story

Eight-year-old Hamid learns that 786 is God’s number and decides to try and reach out to God, by dialing this number. He wants to talk to his father, who his mother tells him has gone to Allah. One day the phone call is answered, and two lives shattered in the strife of Kashmir find a way to be complete again.

Trailer:

Hotel by the river by Hong Sang-soo – South Korea | 2018 – 96 min.
Section: World Cinema

An ageing poet is holed up for two weeks in a modest provincial hotel overlooking the Han River. His adult sons are summoned to visit after years of estrangement. Though the hotel is small and its surroundings easy to navigate, the father and sons lose each other, meet up, and lose each other again. Meanwhile, a young woman, after having just fled a destructive relationship, gets a room at the same hotel and calls for a friend. They nap, take walks, and talk about everything, drawing the attention of the poet, who finds in the pair a beauty and fascination sufficient to inspire new verse.

Trailer:

House of my fathers by Suba Sivakumaran – Sri Lanka | 2018 – 94 min.
Section: World Cinema

Two Sri Lankan villages — one Tamil, one Sinhala — have been at war with each other for decades. When, on both sides, villagers become infertile, they receive a message from the gods. A Sinhala man and a Tamil woman are to be sent to an isolated place where they will find the secret to renew life. But only one of them will return. In the Forest of the Dead, Asoka and Ahalya will have to confront the secrets of their villages and their personal pasts.

Imago by Karan Chavan, Vikram Patil – India | 2018 – 97 min.
Section: India Story

Namrata, a shy, introvert teenage girl living in a small village is suffering from leucoderma or vitiligo, a skin abnormality. White spots on dark skin have set her aside from others. Weird, sympathetic, penetrating ‘normal’ eye sights have made her feel guilty and embarrassed for who she is and how she looks.One fine day a young and vibrant teacher joins her school. A fine young man with strong belief in freedom and self-pride, he creates space for Namrata to breathe freely. She finds solace in his gaze, relief in his presence. Her isolated bubble is about to dissolve in ether. Romance is kindling teenage desires. Too much at stake, too much to lose…. Destinations seem far away, but the journey prevails…the complexes, the taboos, the inner conflicts are about to resolve…making her in to a different being altogether.