Jio MAMI to screen 'The Irishman', honour Dipti Naval

Veteran actor Deepti Naval and Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Meirelles will be honoured with the Excellence in Cinema award at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star which is set premiere award season contenders -- Martin Scorsese's "The Irishman" and "Marriage Story".

Meirelles, the force behind the critically acclaimed Brazilian film "City of God", is presenting his latest feature "The Two Popes", starring Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins in the lead.

He will also conduct a masterclass on filmmaking.

"The Two Popes" hails from Netflix as do "The Irishman" and "Marriage Story", starring Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver as a couple undergoing divorce.

Naval will be honoured with the Excellence in Cinema Award (India) for her substantial contribution to art and cinema, "winning critical acclaim for her sensitive portrayal of characters that have emphasized the changing roles of women in India," a press release said.

The 21st edition of the festival will boast critically-acclaimed international titles such as James Gray's space drama "Ad Astra", starring Brad Pitt in a critically lauded performance, Alma Har'el "Honey Boy" about Hollywood actor Shia LaBeouf's estranged relationship with his father, "The Souvenir" by British filmmaker Joanna Hogg, "Midsommar", Ari Aster's follow up to critically acclaimed horror film "Hereditary" and acclaimed British filmmaker Ken Loach's "Sorry We Missed You", about how zero hour contracts affect a working class couple.

The eight-day festival, scheduled to start from October 17, boasts of over 190 films including over 50 debuts, 13 world premieres, spanning 53 countries and 49 diverse languages.

Filmmaker Geetu Mohandas' much-awaited and acclaimed Malayalam drama "Moothon" (The Elder One) is the opening film of festival. It is for the first time in 21 years that a Malayalam language film will be opening the festival.

Besides "The Irishman", "Marriage Story" and "The Two Popes", Netflix is also bringing "Atlantics", "I Lost My Body" and "Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator", which examines the series of sexual allegations against yoga guru Bikram Choudhury.

The festival's 'Spotlight' section, a specially curated out-of-competition vertical, will showcase work from both critically acclaimed and breakthrough Indian filmmakers.

The section features movies such as Tanuja Chandra's "Aunty Sudha Aunty Radha", "Cargo" by Arati Kadav, "Ram Prasad Ki Tehrvi" directed by Seema Bhargava Pahwa, "Shut Up Sona" by Deepti Gupta, "The Churning of the Ocean (Samudra Manthan)" by Kamal Swaroop, "The Wayfarers (Raahgir)" by Goutam Ghose and "Oh That’s Bhanu" by RV Ramani.

The 'Dimensions Mumbai' section showcases films by up-and-coming filmmakers under the age of 25 and the jury includes Taapsee Pannu, Avinash Tiwary, author and screenwriter Kanika Dhillon, screenwriter, director and producer Karan Anshuman and film editor Shweta Venkat Mathew.

The 'International Competition' section shines a spotlight on new cinematic voices. The jury is headed by world renowned filmmaker of "Moutain Between Us" fame Hany Abu-Assad. Co-jurors include Julie Huntsinger - Executive Director of Telluride Film Festival, Mark Adams - Artistic Director of Edinburgh International Film Festival, Indian filmmakers Vetri Maaran and Zoya Akhtar.

The 'India Gold' section will showcase breakthrough contemporary Indian films produced in India. The jury comprises Franklin Leonard - Film Producer, Cultural Commentator, Professor & Entrepreneur, Col Needham - Founder & CEO of IMDb, Christian Jeune - Director of the Film Department and Deputy General Delegate of the Cannes Film Festival and Grainne Humphreys - Festival Director of Dublin International Film Festival.

The 10 films that have been nominated are Archana Atul Phadke's "About Love", "Bitter Chestnut", Gitanjali Rao's internationally acclaimed "Bombay Rose", "Eeb Allay Ooo!", "Gamak Ghar", "Invitation (Nimtoh)", "Just Like That (Aise Hi)", "Pearl of the Desert", "Aamis", "That Cloud Never Left".