10 Documentaries you cannot miss at the 19th Mumbai Film Festival 2017

By Asian Film Festival on October 5, 2017 • ( Leave a comment )

We present a list of ten documentaries you cannot miss at the JIO MAMI 19th Mumbai Film Festival 2017 that will take place from October 12th – 18th, in Mumbai, India.

A suitable girl by Sarita Khurana, Smriti Mundhra – US | 2017 – 97 min.
Section: World Cinema

Dipti, Amrita, and Ritu are all young, modern women in India looking to get married—some desperately, some reluctantly. A Suitable Girl follows them over the course of four years as they juggle family, career and friends, intimately capturing their thoughts on arranged marriage, giving them a voice, and offering a unique perspective into the nuances of this institution.

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Ask the Sexpert by Vaishali Sinha – India, US | 2017 – 83 min.
Section: India Story

Ask the Sexpert is a feature length documentary about a highly popular 90-year-old sex advice columnist for a daily newspaper in Mumbai. Despite sex being a taboo topic in that country, the column’s brand of non-moralistic advice and humor has emboldened many to write in with their question ASK THE SEXPERT is a feature length documentary about a highly popular 90-year-old sex advice columnist for a daily newspaper in Mumbai. Despite sex being a taboo topic in that country, the column’s brand of non-moralistic advice and humor has emboldened many to write in with their questions, the vast majority of whom seek basic information. The columnist gains popularity even while a ban on comprehensive sex education in schools is adopted by approximately one third of India’s states.

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City of ghost by Matthew Heineman – US | 2017 – 90 min.
Section: World Cinema

Directed, produced, and filmed by Academy Award–nominated and Emmy-winning filmmaker Matthew Heineman (CARTEL LAND, 2015 Sundance Film Festival Directing Award), CITY OF GHOSTS is a singularly powerful cinematic experience that is sure to shake audiences to their core as it elevates the canon of one of the most talented documentary filmmakers working today. Captivating in its immediacy, CITY OF GHOSTS follows the journey of “Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently”—a handful of anonymous activists who banded together after their homeland was taken over by ISIS in 2014. With astonishing, deeply personal access, this is the story of a brave group of citizen journalists as they face the realities of life undercover, on the run, and in exile, risking their lives to stand up against one of the greatest evils in the world today.

Schedule:
October 12th, 2017 | Thursday | PVR ICON, Infinity Mall, Andheri | 6:00 pm

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Devil’s Freedom by Everardo González – Mexico | 2017 – 74 min.
Section: World Cinema

In Mexico, as cartels thrive and grow ever more ruthless, the phenomenon of violence has emerged as a tragic feature of the country’s life and subcon- scious. Through rsthand testimonies of victims as well as perpetrators, Devil’s Freedom explores how fear and uncertainty have penetrated every level of Mexican society asking what meaning is to be found in this violence and the profound fear it engenders.

More than a film about the violent deeds them- selves, Devil’s Freedom is a psychological plunge into the nightmares and absence that so many dead bodies leave in their wake. The interplay of these personal stories form a complex network with universal echoes, a reection on the nature of our deepest fears and the most obscure traits of the human psyche.

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Machines by Rahul Jain – India | 2016 – 75 min.
Section: India Gold

Moving through the corridors and bowels of an enormous and disorientating structure, the camera takes the viewer on a descent down to a dehumanized place of physical labor and intense hardship. This gigantic textile factory in Gujarat, India might just as well be the decorum for a 21st century interpretation of hell. An environment of suffering it’s inhabitants can hardly escape from, we learn their narratives with strong indelible images and dispersed personal narratives of inequality, oppression and the huge divide between rich, poor and the perspectives of both. In the factory, man and machine seem to have fused into one being. It is dark and dank, and barely any daylight penetrates the space. The labor is heavy and mind-numbing, and the work days seem endless. We are drawn into a gloomy world where the cacophonous beat of machinery sets the rhythm of toil. There is a mysterious connection between worker and product.

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Nothingwood by Sonia Kronlund – France, Germany | 2017 – 85 min.
Section: World Cinema

At around 100 km from Kabul, Salim Shaheen, the most prolific and popular actor-director-producer in Afghanistan, came to show several of his 110 feature films and, in passing, shoot the next one. This trip, in which he brought his actors, all more eccentric and out of control than the last, is the opportunity to meet this film lover, who has made relentlessly Z-movies in a country at war for more than thirty years. Nothingwood tells the story of a life spent to accomplish a child’s dream

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Quest by Jonathan Olshefski – US | 2017 – 105 min.

Filmed with vérité intimacy for close to a decade, QUEST is a portrait of a family in North Philadelphia. Christopher “Quest” Rainey, along with his wife Christine’a (aka “Ma Quest”), open the door to their home music studio, which serves as a creative sanctuary from the strife that grips their neighborhood. Over the years, the family evolves as everyday life brings a mix of joy and unexpected crisis. Set against the backdrop of a country now in turmoil, the film is a tender depiction of an American family whose journey is a profound testament to love, healing and hope.

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Untitled by Michael Glawogger, Monika Willi – Austria | 2017 – 107 min.
Section: World Cinema

“I want to give a view of the world that can only emerge by not pursuing any particular theme, by refraining from passing judgment, proceeding without aim. Drifting with no direction except one’s own curiosity and intuition.” – Michael Glawogger

After the sudden death of Michael Glawogger in April 2014, his longstanding collaborator and editor Monika Willi realizes a film out of the footage Glawogger shot over the course of 4 months and 19 days in the Balkans, Italy, North and West Africa. A journey out into the world with open eyes and open mind – observing, listening, experiencing. Serendipity is the concept and the only rule to apply – in editing and creating the film just as it was in shooting it. Narrated by Fiona Shaw.

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Up Down & Sideways (Kho ki pa lü) by Anushka Meenakshi, Iswar Srikumar
India | 2017 – 83 min. | Section: India Gold

Up Down & Sideways is a sensory take on the everyday lives of a community of rice farmers. The village of Phek in Nagaland is home to nearly 5000 people, almost all of who sing while they work on the terraced slopes of the Naga hills. The music is as evocative as the land they work, and lyrics as poetic and poignant as the stories they share. As the seasons change, so does the music. “Without you I am nothing,” call out the first few words of all their songs, almost as a celebration and reminder of the need for the other. Drawing inspiration from the polyphonic nature of the music, Up Down & Sideways is a musical portrait of the community.

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Zaineb hates the snow by Kaouther Ben Hania – Tunisia, France | 2016 – 94 min.
Section: Half Ticket – In Competition

It’s 2009 and Zaineb’s life is about to change. After the death of her father, her mother is all set to build a new life for them and it involves moving to Canada. To entice Zaineb, she’s told that in Canada, there’s snow! But Zaineb wants nothing to do with this new country and so she decides, she hates snow. Covering six years of her life, Zaineb’s story offers a poignant look at emigré life as this Muslim family settles into the West.

Schedule:
October 15th, 2017 | Sunday | Phoenix 5 303 | 1:45 pm (Screens with “Flying Rats” by Emiel Sandtke)

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