Into the Animation Mix at the Mumbai Int’l Film Festival (MIFF)
MIFF — a masala or a mix of all that’s wonderful in a film festival — fascinating people from all over India and the world, intriguing and entertaining films, prestigious awards with big prize money, parties galore with amazing food — and it all takes place in a truly exciting location — Mumbai.
Why MIFF-2008 for Me? And My Mission… However, one of my few disappointments was the discovery that there were so few entries from the U.S. into this festival… as in the number “six” few. And none of these were in the animation category. I am now on a mission to remedy this situation, at least in the animation category. I plan to put the word out wherever and however I can to encourage animation filmmakers to enter MIFF-2008! It may seem a bit early now because the deadline for entries is probably not until 2007… but I wanted you to have enough advance notice in case you want to make a new animated film or to have the time to finish one.
On a very hot day in New York City during the summer of 2005, I received an email inviting me to be part of the International Jury for the Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF-2006). A judge at MIFF-2006 — wow — I had never done anything like this before. I was honored by the invitation and quite excited to go to India. I took the heat of the day as a sign from the Universe that this was my time to go to India and emailed back my acceptance. Let me tell you, MIFF-2006 became one of the most wonderful adventures of my life.
Why MIFF-2008 for You? You’ll be in excellent company. MIFF attracts distinguished filmmakers, film critics, academicians, dignitaries and journalists from all over India and the world. This is a festival that has always been receptive to experimentation in both form and content and recognizes technological advancement. MIFF has become a bridge between different societies and ideas, serving as a platform to promote the spirit of creativity and search for excellence. In MIFF-2006, the international submissions came from 30 countries.
At each MIFF event, a veteran documentary filmmaker is awarded the prestigious Dr. V. Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award. Ram Mohan was the recipient for MIFF-2006. This was a joyous surprise for me, because, over the past few years, I’ve become friends with Ram, his wife, Sheila and his son, Kartik (also a talented animator in New York City). Mohan is considered to be the father of animation in India and has been animating for over 50 years. Presently, Ram is the chairman & chief creative officer of Graphiti Multimedia Pvt. Ltd.
Besides my mission, there are a few other good reasons for considering MIFF. MIFF is rated the world’s third largest International Film Festival for documentary, short, and animation films. MIFF-2008 will be the 10th festival in its history and this festival has grown in size and stature since it began in 1990. MIFF also offers the biggest prize money in this genre of festivals —$60,000 given across various categories. This prize-money could be helpful in paying off either your film or travel expenses. Along with the prize money, come trophies made of (real but not sure of the karat count) gold for the first prize, The Golden Conch Award, and silver for the second prize, The Silver Conch Award. These two awards are given in each category. As you may have already guessed by the names of these awards, the trophies are in the shape of a large conch shell. I think these trophies are exceptionally beautiful.
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