Just imagine Akira Kurosawa, Michelangelo Antonioni, Elia Kazan and Satyajit Ray, all seated at the dais to address a press conference. In fact, quite ironically, it was during the Emergency era, circa 1976, that India hosted its more unforgettable international film festival ever — not only in terms of the quality of the entries but also the never-again-equalled presence of master directors.

The controversial I&B minister V.C. Shukla would saunter in and out of the Vigyan Bhavan, sparking bad vibes among the press corps. However, the presence of the great directors under one roof was pure magic.
The eminent Swiss director Alain Tanner, who has often collaborated with the highly regarded writer John Berger, was encircled for interviews, too. But Kurosawa, Antonioni, Kazan and Ray were virtually ambushed by journos as well as film students. The ministry quickly organised a trip for the quartet to visit the Taj Mahal and get some respite in a multi-star Agra hotel. Scores of news reporters attempted to hop on to the same luxury bus. But only the feisty columnist, the late Amita Malik, succeeded. That was a time when scoops required espionage-style stealth and subterfuge.
Subsequently, the attendance of master directors as well as the entries in and out of competition at the Central government-supported International Film Festival of India — now parked in Goa — are just not in the same league. Over the years though, Roman Polanski, Jeanne Moreau, Shohei Imamura, Theo Angelopoulous, Istvan Szabo, Kyrysztof Zanussi are some of world cinema’s eminent names who have jetted in for the ministry’s festival. Also for a while its top award, the Golden Peacock, had lustre, one of the winners being Lucino Visconti’s sweeping epic The Damned.
Over now to the just-concluded eight-day-long Mumbai International Film Festival organised by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Images (MAMI). Unquestionably, it fills in the lacuna of an event of such a nature in the metropolis, identified with the nation’s most high-profile and prolific film industry.
Sorry. Although this was the 14th edition, it still doesn’t compare to the IFFI, where a semblance of method does prevail in the jamboree madness. For instance, its Panorama section serves as a showcase for the best Indian feature films and documentaries, in various languages, made in the span of the last 12 months.
The representation of Indie efforts at MAMI is at best, ragbag, what with the unsettling stipulation that films shown at other Indian festivals, are ruled out from participating in any of several sections. To keep them out of competition is valid, but why block them from the entire event? Off-mainstream films sorely need exposure at as many platforms as possible at home. It is a pity, then, that excellent films like Ballad of Rustam, BA Pass and Patang were not considered for inclusion in any sidebar nook or cranny of the festival.
A package of classic Italian films was also wedged in at the fest, which was already coming apart at the seams. Expectedly, the masterworks by Vittorio De Sica, Federico Fellini and Ermanno Olmi drew lean attendance.
Obviously pluralism isn’t the key. A singular, focused vision is imperative if the Mumbai festival wants to approximate its immense potential. This, it can be argued, is easier said than achieved. Not really. Because the Kerala international film festival hosted in Thiruvananthapuram every December, displays a clarity of thought in its programming. Dedicated to securing films which are significant for experimentation and bucking the formulaic Hollywood system, the Kerala event is rated as the “best” by festival gourmets. A retrospective of Werner Herzog’s oeuvre, with the legendary German director in attendance, was nothing short of a triumph.
At MAMI, this year, Chinese director Yang Zhimou rushed in to collect his Lifetime Achievement Award and vanished with the wind. Besides mandatory snafus like last-minute cancellations of screenings, the difficult access to one of the main venues was a spirit-dampener.
On the upside, the event’s opening and closing functions were devoid of the usual mammoth goof-ups. Above all, a fair number of quality films made the festival worthwhile. Among the international section, Michael Haneke’s Amour, Christian Mingiu’s Beyond the Hills and Abbas Kiarostami’s Like Someone in Love were the prize catches. From home ground, Hansal Mehta’s Shahid and Anand Gandhi’s Ship of Theseus brilliantly coalesced form with substance.
All pros and cons considered, it cannot be sufficiently emphasised that the Mumbai fest could well attain the status of a must-partake on the international festival calendar — if it gets its act right instead of being as chancy as a game of roulette. As for that coup of bringing world cinema masters as legendary as Kurosawa, Antonioni, Kazan and Ray together again, banish the thought. Perhaps that is to be experienced only once in a lifetime.

The writer is a journalist, film critic and film director