For the first time, the Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) has arrived in Pune. Being held from June 15 to 21 at the National Film Development Corporation-National Film Archive of India (NFDC-NFAI) on Law College Road, the festival is dedicated to introducing the best of documentary, short, and animation films.
The festival kicked off on Saturday with the Indian premiere of the opening film 'Billy and Molly – An Otter Love Story'. Some of the documentaries that will be screened in the international section include 'Against The Tide' by Sarvnik Kaur, 'Glass, My Unfulfilled Life' by Rogier Kappier, 'Karparaa' by Vignesh Kumulai, and 'I Am Not' by Homer Hermann, among others. In the national section, there is 'Bay Of Blood' by Krishnendu-Bose, 'The Caretakers' by Biswajit Das, and 'And, Towards Happy Alleys' by Sreemoyee Singh, among others.
Additionally, three Marathi films will be screened: 'Bhed Chal' by Ankit Pogula, 'Sahastrasurya Savarkar' by Shubhangi Rajan Sawant, and 'Aathvanitlya Paaulkhuna' by Suhas Sitaram Karnekar.
Celebrating the best of films, the 18th MIFF will also present films from filmmakers from Pune, whose films made the official selection at the festival. Some of these films include 'Guntata Hruday He (Entangled)' by Sainath S Uskaikar and Cannes Film Festival winner Chidananda Naik's 'Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know...', both of which will compete in the national competition for short fiction films. Similarly, 'Kankhua' by Arindam Kishor Dutta will be screened in the national competition for the animation category, 'Fear' by Prasad Ramesh Bhujbal in the national short fiction competition category, and 'Mhatara Dongar' by Devesh Ranganath Kanase as part of the National Prism - student short film fiction category.
'Billy and Molly – An Otter Love Story' will be screened again on the final day with a red carpet.
