Navi Mumbai International Film Festival (NMIFF) to be held from 31st Jan to 2nd Feb Marc Baschet to be the Jury Head Around 40 movies from across the globe to be screened during the course of three days

Curtain Raiser for the first edition of Navi Mumbai International Film Festival

Navi Mumbai International Film Festival (NMIFF) to be held from 31^st Jan to 2^nd Feb

Marc Baschet to be the Jury Head

Around 40 movies from across the globe to be screened during the course of three days

Mumbai, January 14, 2014: The First Edition of Navi Mumbai International Film Festival(NMIFF)will be held from 31^st January to 2^nd February 2014 at the DY Patil Auditorium in Nerul. Founded with the idea to showcase the talent & creativity of filmmakers, NMIFF (Navi Mumbai International Film Festival)will give a global exposure to these budding film makers.

Navi Mumbai International Film Festival’s impressive lineup of about 40 movies from across the globe and other highlights were revealed at the curtain raiser press conference held in the presence of Mr Ashok Purang, Festival Director, and MrSachinKhanna, Festival Founder and Chairman of NMIFF,Capt. Samir Walavalkar, Director – Business & Finance, Bisharad Basnet, Director – IT & Digital Networking and Mr. Salim Arif, Director of Cultural affairs, NMIFF.

The jury is the core of every film festival and NMIFF is proud of having eminent personalities on jury this year. Heading the jury will be renowned director and producer from France, Marc Baschet. He has won an Oscar for ‘No Man’s Land’ and ‘Heaven’, ‘Before the Rain’, ’Rain of Life’ are some of his acclaimed films. The jury also includes, Imtiaz Hussain, a writer and director of national fame, known for National Award winning films like Astitva and Parinda and Rohini Hattangadi, the only Indian actress to win the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as Kasturba Gandhi in Gandhi.

The film entries for the festival have come in from all around the world and are segregated into three categories.  Student,Professional & Feature films with shorts,documentaries,animation,social awareness & music as types available to enter in students & professional categories.

The Student Shorts Best film will be awarded the prize money of Rs. 20,000 with a Trophy & Certificate. The Best film of Professional Shorts is to be awarded with Rs. 40,000 and Rs. 1, 00,000, prize money for the best Feature Film. 

Navi Mumbai International Film Festival (NMIFF)
Student Shorts
Sr. No	Name of the Films	Director	Country	Type of Film	Synopsis
1	The Professor	Suraya Gurung	Australia	Student Film	"Suraj Thapa, at his mid 40's, well recognized professor of a popular university,his family got kidnapped ten years ago and still missing, kidnaps the Nepalese prime minister's son. The family tragedy and the growing of kidnapping activities in Nepal leads the highly educated university professor Mr. Suraj to challenge himself against the government."
2	Prism	Sandip Pandurang Mane	India	Short film	"Story of child who enjoys and learns things in nature rather than school which becomes obstruction for him."
3	HARALD	Moritz Schneider	Germany	Animation Film	"Harald is a wrestler. Driven by his ambitious mother he won a vast number of challenge cups.But his true love are flowers. When his favorite is taken away by his mother one day,he has to fight for it."
4	[tha-ki-ta-tha] - talking drums	Philipp Holl,Jochen Keller	Germany	Documentary	" tha-ki-ta-tha" - sound of tabla, pulse of India. In such a colorful society like the Indian, it`s only natural that the instruments and even the music itself are full of colors and variations. The documentary "tha-ki-ta-tha" gives us now a detailed view on one special element of this music, the tabla."
5	Gurudakshina	Vishal Naik	India	Short film	"An award winning filmmaker, instead of making films is teaching at a film school. Sunil Shinde is a student of his who starts to pick the gems that his teacher is throwing at him. The only thing that he doesn't understand is why doesn't his teacher practice rather than preach. The only answer he gets from his teacher is that “he is afraid of his own standards”. How the student unknowingly becomes the teacher forms the crux of the story."
6	JASHN-E-DAAWAT	Karan Asnani	India	Documentary	Jashn-E-Daawat is a 4 minute documentary on the indulging, intriguing, scrumptious & religious Mohamed Ali Road in South Mumbai.The street is lit up brightly every night during the holy month of Ramadan, where followers of Islam keep day long fasts & feast in the night.The film shows the true essence of the spirit of Islam as a religion, the festivity among the people & the unity which binds all religions together.The famous Chicken tandoori & seekh kebabs along with tempting Phirnee & Malpua have been shown in the documentary. We’ve tried to bring out the beauty, the festivity which happens every year at Mohamed Ali Road."
7	The Money Shot	Graham Gunner	United Kingdom	Short film	"An e-bay seller discovers his new camera has hidden powers that could make him very rich".
8	El Abonado	Pedro  Pacheco Arlandi	Spain	Short film	"Julian, a young customer of some big company, decides to terminate the contract that binds him to it. But what seemed to be a mere formality, becomes a tedious adventure."
9	Piros feher Zold (red , white and green)	Tarek Raffoul	Lebanon	Documentary	"A short documentary about a mother's struggle, wanting to find a better place for her 37 year old son with down syndrome, before its too late"
10	Lost House	Nikolay Kotyash	Russia	Short film	"The walking of Petersburg artist Michael and finnish girl Johanna turns into an easy adventure."
Professional Shorts
Sr. No	Name of the Films	Director	Country	Type of Film	Synopsis
1	Jhumki	Abishek Pande	India	Short film	" This film raises a very important issue of our society that when we all human kind whether we are poor , rich , belong from cities or rural area, from any caste , suffers from same kind of diseases like fever, cold, cancer or any other physical disability. Then why this so called "evil spirit" occurs only from poor,illiterate and rural areas and specifically from their women. Film raises the question via their central character called "Jhumki."
2	P.M. Postmortem	Balasaheb Gore & Arun Newaskar	India	Short film	"When a human being expires in some mysterious circumstances a POSTMORTEM is done. The relatives of the deceased feel that the body should not undergo the process of cutting/butchering. It is also believed that the Doctor performs the POSTMORTEM but the realty is else.The POSTMORTEM is done by other uneducated person. The Doctor just has a look at the body and prepares his report. The story is about that uneducated Person, his life and his status in Society and Family. His hole family face the facts of his POSTMORTEM work."
3	Titanic Love	Mark Pressdee	UK	Short film	"Jack is a small man in a Titanic world. He longs to lead a settled life - to have a good job, the gaff in town, money in his back pocket, and to have the perfect life with his girlfriend Lucy.The only problem is, Lucy has an obsession...with all things Titanic! Lucy has found a \'Titanic Love Cruise\' and wants to re-live the Hollywood dream. Jack doesn\'t! They can\'t afford it and Lucy is furious. Their relationship hits rough waters, so Jack calls on his best friend Delroy for advice and a cheap alternative.True to form, Delroy and his trusty sidekick Jaz come up with a cunning plan that could change their lives forever.Delroy is going to bring Hollywood and Titanic to England!There is no turning back, and Jack has no choice but to entrust his future with Lucy to Delroy. Jack, Lucy, Delroy and Jazz are about to experience the voyage of their lives! Will it all end in disaster? All will be revealed in a thrilling climax!"
4	June	Viplab Majumder	India	Social Awareness	"Silence speaks its own language. Sometimes it creates a void in people’s life, sometimes it fills one. For June silence was her voice. She often looked outside her window at the world that awaited her till death came knocking and promised her redemption. She found a friend, learnt to ride a bicycle and live her age. She had to run. But was it that easy to find one’s way out? Would life embrace her, the way she had hoped? Story of June and her small steps towards her freedom, a journey to her childhood as she traces her steps back to innocence."
5	Suitcase	Krishnendu Karar	India	Short film	"The story of ‘Suitcase’ revolves around the relationship between an aged couple.In their 49 years of marriage whenever they had an argument, wife would invariably threaten to leave husband and return to her father’s house. However, she would later justify her staying back with her husband as she could not possibly carry the heavy trunks they had all by herself. But now, things were different; she had a suitcase recently gifted by her elder son. One fine day an altercation takes place between the husband and wife regarding a marriage proposal for their daughter.Their clash of egos takes an ugly turn and husband decides to get a divorce. Shocked by her husband’s decision, wife had a dream in which the suitcase turns out to be an integral part of their divorce case. The rest of the story portrays the interplay of intricate relationships between the wife, her husband and the suitcase."
6	WHY MOM ???	Jay B Ghadiali	India	Social Awareness Film	"Raj is all of 25 years, full of life, grab the bull by the horn kinda guy… in short he is the guy next door. One thing That separates Raj from other men of his age is that Raj has always walked on the right side of the law.For this, he has to thank his mother who doted on him like all other moms but inculcated the right values… Raj still follows the rule of reportage laid down by her… Raj still refuses to view this as intrusion… Raj still continues to tread the path his mother wants him to take no matter if his friends call him “mama’s boy”.It takes just one drinking session to change all for Raj… the way Raj perceived the threat of drink and drive…The way Raj perceived to walk the right side of the law and above all the way Raj looks at LIFE or DEATH !!!"
7	Drops of Smoke	Ane Siderman	Brazil	Short film	"Bibi (Araci Esteves) is a widow who lives alone with her cat in a small apartment. At the age of 70 and living in her own world, she only interacts with her neighbors. In the midst of her loneliness, she decides to help her neighbor Juliet (Fernanda Moro). They end up having a relationship that borders the limits of loneliness and they both have an identification with the anguish of waiting for death."
8	Echo	Suraj Nair	India	Short film	I echoed FEAR on to your mirror And my FEAR roots in you"- The above phrase unveils the gist of the psychological horror short film 'ECHO' with the set blended in a very contemporary format showcasing I.T. as a backdrop. Echo deals with the fear that resides within one’s subconscious mind which instigates it under a given situation thereby revealing something which we may or may not perceive as Supernatural.
9	Chitrapatangah…. A Butterfly	Pramod Shelar	India	Short film	"Chitrapatangah’ is the Sanskrit word for butterfly. And just like the myriad colours of a butterfly, myriad emotions and dreams also bloom in our hearts.But what about people with disability? They too have the same emotions, dreams, aspirations, ideas and thoughts that others do. Because no disability can paralyze ones heart and mind.‘Chitrapatangah’ is a story of these dreams, these ambitions. The story of a differently abled boy and his imagination.This short film is our little effort to offer a new perspective to the world of the differently abled."
10	Vartul	Santosh Ram	India	Short film	This film has already made selections & nominations at many national & International film Festivals. "Damu(10year old boy) , leaves his home to buy Jagarry .On the way he meets his friend Manya . They stop at a Bioscopewallah. Damu realizes that he is not having enough money and he decides to earn some quick money. This greed takes him to play a game . After the game Damu goes to the shop . But he walk back with tearful eyes………"
11	Musallam Imaan	Amitabha A Gupta	India	Documentry	"Mohammad Yeasin Pathan has paid a high price for his devotion to history.Muslims have shunned him,Hindus have kicked him and punched him and anonymous callers have threatened to kill him.But none of this has dimmed the Muslim school clerk's determination to work to preserve a collection of 18th-century Hindu temples in eastern India."
12	Maliwood Talks	Sudhir Kasabe	India	Documentry	"It is an inspiring story about a “Malegaon film industry” popularly known as “Maliwood”. The journey that began 13 years ago is making films with low budget handy cam to big budget T.V. serial. This work is appreciated and applauded all over the world but it’s marked with sacrifice, hardship of countless people. Their sheer passion for cinema has placed a small town “Malegaon” on a world map for its contribution to the cinema…..!"
13	The Quotidian Ballad	Pradeep Chaudhuri	India	Documentry	"In the fertile river basin of West Bengal, India, life survives on river. Occasionally river deracinates them with their culture. The spring or summer leaves the river dry, their earnings also. But still on the last month of Hindu Almanac "Chaitra", these destitute gather to celebrate "Charak" festival in adoration of Lord Shiva. Facing and Ballads are prime characteristics of “Charak” include makeup of Hindu Gods, demons, joker etc. The Ballads represents extracts from Hindu mythology and epic, relevant in mundane life. Inspired by the great grantor "Karna" of the Hindu Epic mahabharata, these impecunious people donate veneration and anguish of hunger. Their donation will continue for ages to come despite of poverty and hunger to practice this culture till death in exchange of audience admiration only. The revolution of "Charak" continues with the expectation that the future generation, enlightened by education will sustain their culture in a better way."
14	Married for a Cause	Harish Devnani	India	Documentary	"Jitu & Rehana - an interfaith (Hindu-Muslim) couple live in a town called Rajkot in western India.They defied their families, put aside religious differences and got married during a very turbulent time.In an Indian wedding, the bride and the groom take seven vows but they took eight vows; the eighth was not to have their own children. In India, where 99% of the time, the sole purpose of getting married is procreation, this was a very bold decision.The reason? -Every eighth urban child in India lives in slums. -Urban poverty forces almost 12 per cent of Indian children between the ages of 5 and 14 into labor. -Most will never hold a book or see the inside of a school. Jitu-Rehana got married to challenge the system and change this. They got 'Married for a cause'! The two started alone, educating five children with less than 100 dollars in their pocket but today they educate and proudly call themselves 'Parents of a 1000 children'."
15	We Win or We Die	Matthew Millan	Libya	Documentary	"February, 2011. The people of eastern Libya revolt against the brutal regime of Moammar Gaddafi. Yet standing in the way of liberation is the 2-mile sprawling fortress known as The Katiba. For 30 years, the Katiba has stood as a symbol of terror in Benghazi. Holding hundreds of soldiers and heavy artillery, it stands ready to rain death down upon the protesters. And on February 18th, the heavy guns fire. Soon the protests turn into full-scale rebellion, and the people of Benghazi know that the Rubicon has been crossed. If they move forward toward the fortress, they would die. And if they retreat, they would meet the same fate. WE WIN OR WE DIE is the story of an ordinary Libyan who understands that there is but one way to stop the bloodshed. One way to gain freedom. The sprawling fortress, the Fist of Gaddafi, the Katiba must fall..."
16	Behind Closed Door	Ram Marne	India	Social Awareness	"Domestic violence, known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence has been broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship. More than half of the school going children in domestic violence shelters show clinical levels of anxiety or post traumatic stress disorder. Children may exhibit a wide range of reactions to exposure to violence in their home. Younger children do not have the ability to adequately express their feelings verbally, consequently, the manifestation of these emotions is often behavioral. Children may become withdrawn, non-verbal, and exhibit regressed behaviors such as clinging and whining. Eating and sleeping difficulty, concentration problems, generalized anxiety, and physical complaints. Girls are more likely to exhibit withdrawal and unfortunately run the risk of being "missed" as a child in need of support."
17	Bekendor	Anastasiya Kharchenko	Ukraine	Documentary	"The film features the special world of the Bekendor fishing village (Odessa region, Ukraine) with its daily joys and concern, calm life and courageous characters, real human virtues and daily struggle with sea."
18	By- Lane2	Utpal Datta	India	Documentary	"A small room in a small house, at the end of a small bye lane. That is where big things happened. It was a temple of arts in Assam. Film journalism began as a systematic study in the pages of \'Roopkar\'. Children learnt about their culture, painting, song, dance and drama in the haloed portals of \'Aikyataan\', the school of the arts. Broadway theatre, social commitment of an artist, wit, humor, satire, all were discussed and debated by the young, the old, the famous and the struggler alike, who dropped in at all hours. The person holding centre stage was Pabitra Kumar Deka- the first dedicated film journalist of Assam, the founder Editor of First Assamese professionally published film journal of North-East ‘ROOPKAR’. It was he who showed the way to the wide world of creativity and cultural happenings world over, making that small lane of his into a cultural highway. That was Pabitra Kumar Deka an address in himself- By-Lane 2."
19	Rose Mary and Time	Hardeep Giani	United Kingdom	Short film	" Rose, Mary and Time is a story of second chances in life. It looks at the concept of Kismet. Is our life plan already written?"
20	L'appuntamento	Gianpiero Alicchio	Italy	Short film	" Two thirty year old friends invite two girls out for dinner letting them decide where to eat and obviously offering for it. They end up dining at a very expensive vegetarian restaurant but the two play "gentleman" hoping to hit on the girls."
21	La strada di Raffael	Alessandro Falco	Italy	Documentary	"Raffael is a 13 years old boy who lives in the suburbs of Naples. From 12:00 to 3:30 p.m. and from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. he sells cigarettes in a street corner with his friend Adama. They are rehearsing to play music at the village’s festival. Meanwhile, police and demonstrators have been struggling for days after the Mayor's decision to evict a compound of apartments. Raffael is waiting with anxiety for his mother to return home."
22	Dove on the roof	Olga Korotko	Kazakhstan	Short film	"This is a story about a boy who is difficult going through a divorce of his parents."
23	The only man	Jos Man	Spain	Short film	"The story chronicles the last days of a man victim of an epidemic that has turned mankind into degenerate beings void of consciousness; trying to keep his sanity he fights alone against the disease. Though strong in his will to overcome it he will fall victim before he is aware of it."
Feature Films
Sr. No	Name of the Films	Director	Country	Type of Film	Synopsis
1	Satnaagat	Raju Parsekar	India		"This is the story of Nami- the wife of a blacksmith from village KERLE in block Radhanagari in District Kolhapur in Maharashtra state in India in the year 1992.The entire village drooled over Nami as she was pretty and attractive. Nami’s husband had quit working and used to while away his time drinking and gambling. Nami has to work a maid so as to make two ends meet.Police inspector Asole lusts for Nami. He is known to bed the woman he chooses.Asole hatches a plot and brings Nami to the police station and rapes her. The Associate Editor of the Weekly ‘Samachar’ Mr. Wable understands about the rape and he prints it in ‘Samachar’; thus raising a storm in the block. The entire village gathers around Nami’s house from the day news is printed and her life become miserable. Nami’s life has turned into hell. She is thrown out of her job. Her children are starving. She is summoned to the police station repeatedly for enquiry. There is not a morsel to eat and police are stationed outside her home for security reasons.News of poor woman being raped in the Chief Minister’s village spreads like fire from the Block to the District and then eventually throughout the State. IS WABLE SUCCESSFUL IN SPITE OF THE POLITICIANS AND THE POLICE DEPARTMENT…..? DOES NAMI INDEED GETS JUSTICE….??"
2	Surkhaab	Sanjay Talreja	USA		"Surkhaab, a story of our times…of globalization, immigration and basic survival. Jeet, has spent her formative years training hard to become a state level Judo champion. The discipline required has made Jeet into a straight shooter, who is unafraid to say things as they are. Now, trying to adjust to a life after sports, she finds herself tackling the chauvinistic and corrupt world of a life in a village in Punjab. Needless to say, she finds herself in deep trouble which necessitates that she leave, and leave quickly. She has no desire to leave her roots but is left with no option. Although she has no trust in them, Jeet is forced to ask the help of the local hustler Balbir and his nephew Kuldeep. Through them she obtains a counterfeit visa to come to see her brother in Toronto, Canada. The film explores the real life challenges and obstacles faced by a reluctant immigrant to one of the most beautiful, peaceful and “safe” countries in the world. All Jeet wants is to see her brother and make a basic life for herself. Will Jeet survive? Can she make sense of what is happening to and around her? This is the story of one woman’s courageous journey to build a life she can live with dignity, honesty and above all, integrity."
3	Melina	Demetrio Casile	Italy		"Melina 16 years of age, dreams of becoming a famous writer. In her home town everyone makes fun of her. A clash of culture and generations that comes to life in a light hearted representation of people, places and events sometimes. Dramatic and at other times funny. The girl will fight against everyone and everything to fulfill her dream. Her two young friends also have dreams for their future. One wants to become a film maker and the other a marathon runner."
4	Wakya	Deepak kadam	India		Ghumya along with his wife Sushi and son Sonya is a wanderer who keeps seeking his livelihood of provision and alms from village to village. But he did not aspire a gruesome life as an inheritance for his son ,hence he decides to educate his son.His wife too supports him.But father Pandba and mother Rakhma oppose him and remind him of their ancestral tradition. Not heeding to them Ghumya takes his son to school.But on the advice of Kadambai that he will have shed his wander life and be settled in the village,he puts up his petition to the village Patil (village chief ). The village chief offers him a house amongst his field for accommodation . But following this as per the Government Housing Scheme that can provide an individual his own house ,he pursues it to acquire his own home. But lack of Govt. proofs of Ration card, Identity card ,Birth certificate ,Community proof etc .give him a setback. At that juncture ,the monsoon prevails and the dilapidated house that Patil had given him turns ruined. Simultaneously he learns of the Govt.announcement that Govt. is providing a reimbursement as a rehabilitation for all those whose houses have collapsed due to monsoon onslaught .He sees it as his last hopeful opportunity and demolishes the remaining backwall of his house. But as the house belonged to Patil it’s reimbursement for the house ,would go in favour of Patil is told to him by the Gramsevak. Sadly he returns home. Now what? Will Ghumya ever get a house of his own? Will he be able to educate his son?
5	Touring Talkies	Gajendra Ahire	India		"The story of a lone woman Chandi\'s struggle to save her Chandi Touring Talkies from going out of business in the male chauvinistic world of travelling cinema. Chandi\'s arch rival Subhnya tricks her wayward father to pledge her tent in a fixed gambling session and gives her six months to recover her tent. He also steals the screening rights to the latest blockbuster movie from right under her nose, leaving her stranded for options. As she mulls over her predicament enters Avinash an art film maker from a different world of cinema. As Subhnya denies him a screen to play the blockbuster, Chandi and Avinash end up helping each other out. Whether Chandi is able to save her tent or not forms the story."
6	Tara	Kumar Raj	India		"It's a saga of an illiterate illegal brewer- an Indian gypsy Woman- who is outlawed from her house and hamlet by her husband allegedly for adultery when she is already nine months pregnant.Will she survive this stroke? Will she commit suicide? Is she innocent ? Will she be able to prove her innocence?"