Mumbai film festival: Entries invited for short films, documentaries

Entries for the Mumbai International Film Festival-2018 for documentary, short and animation films are now open.

The biennial festival, organised by the Films Division of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, will be held in Mumbai from January 28 – February 3, 2018.

Documentary films, short fiction films up to 45 minutes and animation films of any duration, produced between September 1, 2015, and August 31, 2017, are eligible to be entered in the International and National Competition Sections.

The deadline for submitting entries is November 15 and details are available on www.miff.in. Explaining changes being effected for the 2018 edition, Director-General of Films Division, Manish Desai, said: “For the 15th edition, the cash prize for the top award has been doubled from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. The Best Documentary Film in the International Competition will be given this prize along with the Golden Conch Award.”

The Best Short Fiction Film (up to 45 minutes) and Best Animation Film in the International Competition will get a Silver Conch and Rs 5 lakh cash prize each. In the National Competition, filmmakers can enter their documentaries in two categories – above 60 minutes or below 60 minutes.

Both the categories carry a Silver Conch Award and Rs 5 lakh cash prize each. Best Short Fiction Film and Best Animation Film will get Silver Conch and Rs 3 lakh cash prize each.

Pramod Pati Special Jury Award will be given in the International Competition section. Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari Award, instituted by the Government of Maharashtra, will be given to the Best Debut Film of the Director.

The Indian Documentary Producers’ Association Trophy, along with a cash prize, will be given to the Best Student Film. Technical Awards will be given in the fields of cinematography, editing and sound design.