The “Mumbai International Film Festival“, organized by the Films Division, the Ministry of Information’s official film promotion agency, kicked off in the presence of many Indian government officials. The presence of Italian cinema at this edition, sponsored by the Consulate General of Italy and the Italian Cultural Institute in Mumbai, is high-profile, with six films screened, two of which are in competition: “Chiusi alla luce” (“Closed to the Light”) by Nicola Piovesan and “Venice Elsewhere” by Elia Romanelli. “Ultiminia” by Jacopo Quadri and “Notturno” by Gianfranco Rosi will be screened in a special section. Another special section will be dedicated to paying a tribute to the Italian documentary filmmaker Cecilia Magnini, winner of the Golden Lion and who passed away in 2021 through the screening of her recent releases “Il mondo a scatti” and “Grazia Deledda, la rivoluzionaria”, both co-directed with Paolo Pisanelli.
The Italian Consul General in Mumbai, Alessandro De Masi said: “What we are offered today is a great opportunity for Italian cinema and forms part of a broader strategy that we are actively pursuing with Italy’s whole economic system in Mumbai in favour of an all-round promotion of Brand Italy. It is an extraordinary opportunity to share our culture and our cinema with the Indian public.” On the sidelines of the event, Francesca Amendola, director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Mumbai said: “I am very happy to see such interesting documentaries and short films on such a prestigious stage. The Italian Cultural Institute in Mumbai, with the support of the Italian Consulate General, firmly believed in an Italian presence of relevance. More than anything else, I am honoured to have the opportunity to pay homage to Cecilia Mangini, the first Italian female documentary maker and an outstanding female figure and filmmaker who died in 2021.”
