Mumbai film fest 2018 concludes, next edition to begin on Oct 17

Mumbai: The Jio MAMI 20th Mumbai Film Festival with Star concluded with a star-studded award ceremony on Thursday. It will return with its 21st edition, which will be held here from October 17-24 next year.

Hosted by actors Bhumi Pednekar and Vicky Kaushal, the closing ceremony of the fest was attended by celebrities like Rajkummar Rao, Rasika Dugal, Anjali Menon, Sean Baker, Parvathy, Renuka Shahane, Bejoy Nambiar, Zoya Akhtar, Vishal Bhardwaj, A.R. Balki, Gauri Shinde and Boney Kapoor.

Bhardwaj presented the Excellence in Cinema Award to American filmmaker Darren Aronofsky.

"I have been to Mumbai a few times. I've always loved Mumbai because it's completely insane...more insane than New York City. It has incredible people and food...to get an honour in Mumbai means a lot. I am thankful and excited that people watch my films here," said Aronofsky, an Oscar nominee.

Among other winners, director Aadish Keluskar's 'Jaoon Kahan Bata Ae Dil' bagged the Young Critics Choice award.

The Golden Gateway for the Best Short Film, 5-9 years, in the Half Ticket category went to 'Listen' by Astrid Bussink.

The winner of the Golden Gateway, 9+ years, Short Film, was given to 'Amelia' by directors Maribeth Romslo and Cristina Pippa.

Priya Ramasubbana's 'Chuskit' received the Golden Gateway for the Best Feature (5-9 years), Half Ticket.

The Golden Gateway for the Best Feature, 9+ years, in the Half Ticket category went to Denis Do's 'Funan'.

An Oxfam special jury mention went for 'Sivaranjani and Two Other Women' by Vasanth S Sai for representing gender equality.

'Jonaki' by Aditya Vikram Sengupta received the second Oxfam special jury mention for gender equality.

The Oxfam Best Film on gender equality went to 'Soni' by Ivan Ayr.

'Soni', directed by debutant director Ivan Ayr and starring Geetika Vidya Ohlyan and Saloni Batra, explores the lives of two Delhi policewomen.

"Winning the Oxfam Best Film On Gender Equality award is a big honour and brings a great amount of credibility to the film's intentions and its achievement. As a filmmaker it encourages me to continue to tell stories that are about the human condition and human experiences, oblivious to the gender of the character," said Ivan.

Pranav Bhasin for 'New Years Eve' won the Royal Stag Large Short Films.

The Book Award for Excellence in Writing on Cinema, Language in Focus, was presented to Madhu Eravankara for his work, '100 Varsham, 100 Cinemakal'.

The Special Jury Mention for Excellence in Writing on Cinema, the English Book Award went to 'Start Action: Musings of a Moviemaker' by Balachandra Menon.

The Book Award for Excellence in Writing on Cinema was given to actress Soha Ali Khan for 'The Perils of Being Moderately Famous'.

Soha said: "It's an incredible honour to receive this award. I've been part of the industry for about 12-13 years as an actor. But it's great to be recognised for my writing.

"I feel fortunate to be part of that family. We live in a country which is crazy about films, but we don't write so much about cinema."

Actress Parvathy and filmmaker Bejoy Nambiar handed over the certificate for Special Jury Mention in the Dimensions Mumbai category to Gilroy Rodrigues for his film 'Metaphor'.

Nishtha Sadwelkar's film 'Yadav Ji' won the Silver Gateway in the Dimensions Mumbai category.

And the Golden Gateway for Dimensions Mumbai went to 'Sheher Ya Tum' by Karan Asnani.

The Grand Jury Prize for the International Competition went to 'The Island of Hungry Ghosts' by director Gabrielle Brady.

The Silver Gateway from the International Competition category was given to 'The Heiresses' by director Marcelo Martinessi.

"I come from a country with very little cinema. We have started our cinema history quite recently. So, it's very important to tell stories from Paraguay. It was wonderful it got me to understand that even though we are far from each other, the struggles, desires and aim for freedom are the same," Martinessi said.

The Grand Jury Prize for India Gold went to 'Mehsampur' by Kabir Chowdhry.

There was a tie for the Silver Gateway, India Gold. The winners were 'The Gold Laden Sheep and The Sacred Mountain' by Ridham Janve and 'Jonaki' by Aditya Vikram Sengupta.

Last year, Rima Das had won the India Gold, Golden Gateway Award for 'Village Rockstars', India's official entry to the upcoming edition of Oscars. She has again won the award. This year for 'Bulbul Can Sing".

She and her mother got emotional on stage.

'Reza' by Alireza Motamedi got a Special Jury Mention in the International Competition category.

While the award winners walked away with a smile on their faces, filmmaker Gauri Shinde got emotional when she took the stage to pay tribute to her 'English Vinglish' actress Sridevi.

She passed away in February by accidentally drowning in a bath tub in a Dubai hotel.

Soon after her tribute, Sridevi's husband Boney Kapoor walked out of the venue. It seemed like he was having a hard time fighting back his tears.

Kiran Rao, Chairperson, MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, concluded the fest by saying: "We started the book award three years ago. This year was the last year of book award at MAMI. We are taking it to the next level by starting an imprint that will commission and put great books on cinema on your bookshelves.

"The 21st edition is from October 17 to October 24."