Ava DuVernay will head the International Competition jury at the upcoming 17th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival to be held in Mumbai from October 29th to November 5th, 2015.

Ava DuVernay is the filmmaker behind SELMA, which chronicles Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s leadership in the historic 1965 voting rights campaign. The critically acclaimed American director, screenwriter, film marketer, and film distributor was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, for the film.

DuVernay previously wrote, produced and directed the dramatic feature, Middle of Nowhere, which earned her the 2012 Sundance Film Festival Best Director Award.

Jio MAMI Festival Director, Anupama Chopra said, “Ava DuVernay is one of the most exciting talents working in cinema today. I watched Selma at a theatre in LA. At the end, the audience broke into applause. I still remember the goose-bumps and tears. Ava’s presence will inspire our filmmakers and energise our festival.”

Ava DuVernay said, “I’m thrilled to have been invited to head the international jury for MAMI and look forward to celebrating the work of a diverse array of filmmakers with energetic, engaged audiences in the dynamic city of Mumbai.”
In 2010, DuVernay wrote, financed, produced and directed her first narrative feature, I Will Follow. The family drama was hailed by critic Roger Ebert as “one of the best films I’ve seen about coming to terms with the death of loved one.”

Director Ava DuVernay

Director Ava DuVernay

DuVernay made her directorial debut with the critically-acclaimed 2008 hip hop documentary, This is the Life. She has since directed several network documentaries, including Venus Vs. for ESPN. In 2013, she directed an episode of ABC’s top-rated Scandal, as well as acclaimed fashion and beauty films for Fashion Fair and Prada.

Prior to filmmaking, DuVernay worked as a marketer and publicist for 14 years. Her award-winning firm provided strategy and execution for more than 120 films and television campaigns for acclaimed directors such as Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Michael Mann and Bill Condon.

A graduate of UCLA, DuVernay is the founder of Array, a community-based distribution collective dedicated to the amplification of films by people of color and women filmmakers. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, as well as the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. She sits on the board of both Film Independent and the Sundance Institute. DuVernay is based in Los Angeles.

The 17th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival will be held in Mumbai from October 29thto November 5th 2015. The film screenings will take place at PVR Versova, PVR Citi Mall, Andheri, PVR LP, Phoenix Mills and Regal – Colaba. To register for the festival, viewers can register online at http://in.bookmyshow.com/mami/ or at registration counters at the festival venues listed above.

Along with Chairperson, Kiran Rao and Festival Director, Anupama Chopra, the members of the new Board of Trustees of MAMI are Filmmakers 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 Ltd, Mr. Siddharth Roy Kapur, MD, Disney and Mr. Manish Mundra, Founder and CEO, Drishyam Films. These eminent personalities, outstanding achievers in their respective fields, are bringing together their expertise and experience to give Mumbai and India a bigger, better and even more exciting 17th edition of the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.

 

For more information on the 17th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival scheduled to be held from 29th October- 5th November 2015, visit : www.mumbaifilmfestival.com