Paul Dano’s ‘Wildlife’ Among International Competition Contenders at Mumbai Festival

Paul Dano’s Wildlife is among the titles in the lineup in the Mumbai Film Festival’s international competition section, which honors films by debut directors.

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan, Dano’s critically acclaimed family drama bowed at Sundance and traveled to Cannes and Toronto.

The Mumbai festival’s other competition titles vying for the Golden Gateway award include Adina Pintilie’s Romanian drama Touch Me Not, which won the Golden Bear at Berlin; Sundance directing award winner And Breathe Normally, by Isold Uggadottir from Iceland; Sundance screenwriting award winner Nancy, by Christine Coe; and Thai cinematographer turned director Phuttiphong Aroonpheng’s Manta Ray, which won the Orizzonti award at Venice.

Also in the lineup is late Chinese director Hu Bo’s four-hour drama An Elephant Sitting Still, which won awards at Berlin and Hong Kong; Brazilian director Tiago Melo’s Azougue Nazare, which picked up the Bright Future award at Rotterdam; Gabrielle Brady’s Island of the Hungry Ghosts, which won honors at Edinburgh and Tribeca; Dominic Sangma’s Ma-Ama; Alireza Motamedi’s Reza; Etienne Kallos’ The Harvesters; and Marcello Martinessi’s The Heiresses, which won awards at Berlin, San Sebastian and Jeonju.

Last year’s Golden Gateway winner was Summer 1993 by Carla Simon, which was also Spain’s Oscar entry in the foreign-language category.

As reported earlier, the Mumbai festival has announced a master class with Darren Aronofsky in addition to its lineup for the India Gold section. It includes Bulbul Can Sing, the latest by Rima Das, whose 2017 title Village Rockstars has been named India’s entry in the Oscars foreign-language category. Village Rockstars also picked up the Golden Gateway award last year.

Other titles vying for the top prize include Ere Gowda’s The Bangle Seller, a FIPRESCI winner from Rotterdam; Aditya Vikram Sengupta’s Jonaki, which premiered at Rotterdam; and Ivan Ayr’s Soni, which bowed at Venice, while Ridham Janve’s The Gold-Laden Sheep and The Sacred Mountain gets a world premiere in the competition.

Presented by telecom major Reliance Jio in association with Fox’s Star India network, the 20th Mumbai Film Festival runs Oct. 25-Nov. 1.