Sean Baker, director of The Florida Project, will head the international jury of the 20th Mumbai Film Festival.
Baker is joined on the jury by Thom Noble, Oscar-winning editor for Witness; Jacqueline Lyanga, a former AFI Fest director and now guest director of the VR and Immersive Storytelling Showcase at the L.A. Film Festival; and Indian filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj, known for acclaimed titles such as Maqbool, Omkara and his latest release, Pataakha.
The international competition section features debutant filmmakers vying for the Golden Gateway award, and this year’s lineup includes such titles as Paul Dano’s Wildlife. As reported earlier, Darren Aronofsky will conduct a masterclass at the festival.
Meanwhile, the jury for the India Gold section has also been announced, which will be headed by Argentinian director Lucrecia Martel whose credits include La Ciénaga and most recently, the period drama adaptation Zama.
Fellow jury members include Slovak filmmaker Martin Sulik, whose 2011 film Gypsy was Slovak’s entry in the foreign-language category for the Oscars; French-born Syrian director Soudade Kaadan, whose debut film, 2018’s The Day I Lost My Shadow, won her the Lion of the Future award at Venice; and renowned Indian contemporary artist Subodh Gupta.
The festival will open with Vasan Bala’s The Man Who Feels No Pain, which won an audience award at Toronto. The closing film is Steve McQueen’s Widows.
Presented by telecom major Reliance Jio in association with Fox’s Star India network, the 20th Mumbai Film Festival runs Oct. 25-Nov. 1.
