16th Third Eye Asian Film Festival opens in Mumbai on 21 December

16^th Third Eye Asian Film Festival opens in Mumbai on 21 December

Prabhat Chitra Mandal, one of India’s oldest and most active film societies that is celebrating its golden jubilee this year, in collaboration with P.L. Deshpande Maharashtra Kala Academy, is holding its 16^th Third Eye Asian Film Festival in Mumbai, supported by the Department of Culture, Government of Maharashtra. The festival will be inaugurated on Thursday, the 21^st of December, 2117. The inauguration will be followed by a screening of the Marathi feature film Ziprya (2017, 120 min), directed by Kedar Vaidya. TEAFF is an Asian Film Foundation initiative.

Extending from Turkey to Japan, and divided culturally in the Middle East, West Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and the Far East, Asian Cinema is as diverse and rich as its topography. Yet, most Asian countries share cultural similarities, and a common socio-economic scenario. They are plagued by similar problems of poverty, illiteracy, over-population, lowly status of women, etc. Cinema could be a common bond, which could create awareness about each other amongst Asian countries.

These are some of the festival’s objectives, cited by the organisers.

Film Sections

Spectrum Asia

Contemporary Asian films will be showcased in this section, to capture the cinematic trends in Asian countries.

Best Short Film Competition

Best Film will be awarded a Trophy + a cash prize of Rs.25.000/- (Approx. 350 USD). Second Best Short Film will be awarded Rs. 15.000/- (Approx. 200 USD).

Competition for women film-makers in Asia

'Women with views'

1^st. Prize: Rs. 50,000/- (Approx. 750 USD), to the Director.

2^nd. Prize: Rs.25,000/- (Approx. 350 USD), to the Director.

Focus on One Asian Country

Iran is the country for this year’s focus.

Retrospectives

The 16^th TEAFF will include a retrospective of Myanmar-born Taiwanese director Midi Z (also known as Chao Te-yin).

Also, films of Hungarian director Zoltan Fabri will be screened, which will also fall under the European Connection

Some other sections are: New Marathi Cinema, Centenary Tribute and Indian Vista.

Five shows will be held every day, over a period of a week, at the Ravindra Natya Mandir's Mini Auditorium in central Mumbai.

Screenings begin on Thursday morning itself, before the formal inauguration, which will be held later in the evening.

For more details, check out www.affmumbai.org