These are twenty films you shouldn’t miss at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival which will take place from October 27 – November 5, 2023 in Mumbai, India.

A Match by Jayant Somalkar – India | 2023 – 104 minutes | Asian Premiere
In rural India, a determined young girl, Savita, yearns for education and a bright future. However, as her farmer parents anxiously struggle to find a suitable match for her, societal expectations place immense pressure on her to prioritise marriage over personal aspirations. Facing countless rejections from suitors, she must navigate a world where the pursuit of marriage overshadows the very sustenance of life. The film is shot in a rural village with non-actors. (Mumbai 2023)

Trailer:

A Road to a Village by Nabin Subba – Nepal | 2023 – 103 minutes | South Asia Premiere
Maila, a basket weaver, his wife, Maili, and their seven-year-old son, Bindre, live a simple village life in the mountainous region of eastern Nepal. When a their village finally gets a road, they see it as a blessing. Soon arrive the first bus, sodas, television, and hip hop beats. As the modern amenities creep in, Maila’s life begins to unravel. He’s trapped between sticking to tradition at home and going beyond the village to survive. Meanwhile Bindre uses his resourcefulness to get closer to the gifts the new road brings. Ultimately Maila and Maili must figure how to continue in a world that is leaving them behind.

Trailer:

Absence by Wu Lang – China | 2023 – 102 minutes | India Premiere
Back on Hainan Island, after ten years in prison, Yu tries to rekindle his relationship with his former lover, Hong. Hong’s plan to buy an apartment forces them to face the predicaments in sight while tenacious perseverance empowers them to carry on with their lives and make up for each other’s absence.

Trailer:

Against the Tide by Sarvnik Kaur – France, India | 2023 – 97 minutes | South Asia Premiere
Bombay fishermen Rakesh and Ganesh are inheritors of the Koli knowledge system of harvesting the sea following the moon and the tides. Rakesh has kept faith in the traditional fishing methods; Ganesh has instead embraced technology. The film follows their deep friendship and rising resentment against the backdrop of an increasingly hostile sea because of climate change.

Trailer:

And, Towards Happy Alleys by Sreemoyee Singh – India | 2023 – 75 minutes | India Premiere
Inspired by the cinema and poetry of Iran, a young Indian filmmaker explores the lives of filmmakers and women in Tehran. Intimate and and unguarded exchanges with acclaimed Iranian filmmakers Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Shirvani reveal how Iranians negotiate life under the Islamic Regime that dismisses the idea of femininity by erasing a woman’s body, forbidding them to sing, forbidding desire. Over six years, the camera captures the simmering anxieties, fears, hopes, and dreams of a nation on the brink of revolution, tracing the historic journey of its women from being mute observers to those fighting to reclaim their lost voices.

Trailer:

City of Wind by Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir – Finland, Mongolia, Portugal, Netherlands, Germany, Qatar | 2023 – 103 minutes | South Asia Premiere
A spiritual shaman is a crucial member of the community – the one everyone depends on when they need moral and spiritual guidance. What happens when that shaman is a 17-year-old high school student who must balance his profound Spiritual responsibilities while also juggling another life – that of a high school student – working hard to succeed in the cold, callous society of modern Mongolia?

Trailer:

Evil Does Not Exist by Ryusuke Hamaguchi – Japan | 2023 – 106 minutes | India Premiere
Takumi and his daughter Hana live in Mizubiki village, close to Tokyo. Like generations before them, they live a modest life according to the cycles and order of nature. Soon, plans to build a glamping site near Takumi’s house surfaces, offering city residents a comfortable ‘escape’ to nature. When two company representatives from Tokyo arrive in the village to hold a meeting, it becomes clear that the project will have a negative impact on the local water supply, causing unrest. The agency’s mismatched intentions endanger both the nature plateau and its residents, with an aftermath that affects Takumi’s life.

Trailer:

Follower by Harshad Nalawade – India | 2023 – 100 minutes | Asia Premiere
In a small town riddled with territorial disputes between two linguistic communities, Raghu, a radicalized journalist, works for an online media that acts as a mouthpiece of an extremist leader. Raghu is strongly influenced by the leader’s words and believes that his community has been wronged. But when the line between his professional and personal life starts blurring, and Raghu is faced with some inconvenient truths, he chooses to be in denial and acts impulsively. Causing a deathly consequence, that makes him reflect back on a simpler time. A time when he was not a radicalized young gun, but a man who had not yet succumbed to the identity crisis perpetuated by a divided society.

Trailer:

Guras by Saurav Rai – India | 2023 – 113 minutes | South Asia Premiere
The cardamom price drop in the mountain village of Darjeeling brings instability to nine-year-old Guras’s life. Then her pet dog goes missing. Despite the looming fear of a loose leopard, a faint bark from across the valley brings hope and she sets out. It turns into a mystical journey where she meets unworldly beings.

In Our Day by Hong Sangsoo – Korea | 2023 – 84 minutes | South Asia Premiere
A woman in her early 40s is temporarily living at the home of her friend, who is raising a cat. A man in his 70s, living alone, had a cat that died of old age. Today, each had a visitor — a woman in her 20s and a man in his 30s, respectively. Both visitors came with serious questions to ask. The woman answered them rather briefly; the man ended up giving longer answers. Both had ramyun for lunch in front of their guests and coincidentally, both added hot pepper paste to their ramyun, which is not a very common thing to do…

Trailer:

For more information, please visit: https://www.mumbaifilmfestival.com/