Top movies to watch at MAMI 2017

It’s that time of the year when cinephiles across Mumbai are consumed with planning what to watch at their favourite annual festival.
MAMI 2017, taking place from 12th – 18th October, has a fantastic lineup of over 200 films this time.
Like every year, there are about 10 popular films that everyone is talking about. Those are, of course, the must-watch films of the year. However, me and a group of fellow cinephiles try to catch about 30 – 35 films every year, and that takes a little bit more research.
We read up on the films, watch the trailers and follow an elaborate process of trying to fit it into our final schedule. To make the process a little easier for you, below is a list of the popular and hidden gems of this year’s lineup, based on my research.
Note: My list doesn’t consists of the heavily experimental and abstract films. I mostly tend to go with story and narrative based films.

Popular favourites:

1. The Florida Project – Highly recommend film. It was a favourite at TIFF this year.
2. The Square – The uniquely inriguing trailer should be enough to make anyone want to watch this film. It won 2 awards at Cannes this year including the prestigious Palm d’Or. To add to that, it’s made by the director of the brilliant 2014 film ‘Force Majure’.
3. Call Me By Your Name – It won a People’s Choice Award at TIFF this year. Intriguing trailer.
4. Loveless – It was nominated for the prestigious Palm d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where the filmmaker won a Jury Prize.
5. Last Flag Flying – Richard Linklater. That name should be enough to queue up for this film.
6. Mother – Directed by Darren Aronofsky starring Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem. It’s sadly not expected to get a release in India.
7. Patty Cakes – It was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival this year, and looks like a lovely ‘Sundance’ kind of film. Watch the trailer to be instantly sold.
8. Loving Vincent – The world’s first fully oil-painted feature film, which brings the artwork of Vincent Van Gogh to life. The trailer promises that this film is going to be a visual spectacle like no other!
9. Redoubtable – A biopic of sorts about acclaimed French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard and his relationship with 17-year-old actress Anne Wiazemsky. Something many cinephiles will be excited to watch.
10. Wonderstruck – Nominated for the prestigious Palm d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, a film that truly aims to get us ‘Wonderstruck’.

Hidden gems:
(These are essentially recommended because of their trailers and story synopses.)

1. Marlina The Murderer In Four Acts
2. Bright Sunshine In
3. The Party
4. Holy Camp
5. Summer 1993
6. Wajib
7. Bad Lucky Goat
8. Jeune Femme
9. Beauty And The Dogs
10. Most Beautiful Island
Note: MAMI’s lineup also has a number of good Indian films and documentaries that you can check out.
The list above mainly consists of fiction films from other countries that are not likely to ever release in India.