It’s official! The Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) has announced and issued its Call for Entries for the 17th Mumbai Film Festival which is scheduled to be held in Mumbai from October 29 – November 5, 2015. MAMI is now accepting submissions from across India and the world for the prestigious festival.

The MAMI team led by Festival Director, Anupama Chopra has received an overwhelming show of support from members of the Indian Film fraternity who have come together to commit their time and resources to make the 17th Mumbai Film Festival a showcase of the best creative talent from India and around the world.

To kick off the preparations for the 17th edition of the Festival, Team MAMI has produced a special Call for Entries film that brought together four of the industry’s leading production houses. The film is produced by Vinod Chopra Films and Equinox and is supported by Dharma Productions and Phantom Films.

Leading stars Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt as well as some of the most recognised directors, Karan Johar, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Raju Hirani, along with Festival Director – Anupama Chopra and Chaitanya Tamhane, Winner of Best Film in the International Competition, MAMI 2014 can be seen in the film.

Anupama Chopra, Festival Director, MAMI said, “The MAMI film is one of the many miracles that is enabling this festival to survive and thrive. Four production houses, artists and crew gave us their talent and time free of cost and made this happen. I am extremely grateful to each one of them. May your tribe increase.”

The digital release of the Call for Entries film, which has been directed by Priyanka Ghose from Equinox, is scheduled for Monday, 18th May 2015. The film will also release in all PVR theatres in the first week of June, 2015.

Speaking about the importance of the Mumbai Film Festival to the city and film lovers, Karan Johar, Member, Board of Trustees, MAMI said, “It’s so important for the city of Mumbai that mothers a large part of Indian cinema to have a festival of its own. MAMI is the largest platform endeavoring to resonate the power of cinema from the city of dreams”.

When asked what MAMI means to him, Chaitanya Tamhane, Winner of Best Film in the International Competition at MAMI 2014 said — “MAMI for me is a window to the best of world cinema amidst a celebratory atmosphere and an infectious spirit. It’s that one week in a year where film lovers from not just Mumbai, but all over India, flock to the festival venues like kids in a candy store. One is almost spoilt for choices with such a diverse and exquisite selection of films, and that too for the minimal cost of an all access pass. I think of myself as a perennial film student, and MAMI is one of the best film schools out there”.

The recently appointed MAMI team members are bringing together their expertise and experience to give Mumbai and India a bigger, better and even more exciting 17th edition of the Mumbai Film Festival. Along with Chairperson, Kiran Rao and Festival Director, Anupama Chopra, the members of the new Board of Trustees of MAMI are Filmmakers Anurag Kashyap, Farhan Akhtar, Karan Johar, Vikramaditya Motwane, Actor Riteish Deshmukh, Actress Deepika Padukone, Mr. Anand Mahindra, Chairman & MD, Mahindra Group, Mr. Ajay Bijli, Chairman and MD, PVR Pvt. and Mr. Siddharth Roy Kapur, MD, Disney.

Earlier this year in February 2015, the MAMI team invited Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director, TIFF and Natalie Lue, Vice-President, Production and Visitor Experience of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) to conduct a series of workshops. They visited Mumbai to share their experiences, learnings and insights over the years from TIFF with the MAMI team. TIFF is recognised as one of the most successful Film Festivals around the world. Traditionally, many Best Picture Oscar winners come out of the Toronto Film Festival.