MAMI bats for female voices: Karan Johar announces Female Filmmaker Award

Filmmaker Karan Johar on Thursday announced an award for female filmmakers to encourage more gender equality in Indian cinema at a press conference of 18th MAMI film festival.

Johar said, "We are also thrilled to announce a special award this year called the MAMI MasterCard Best Indian Female Filmmaker 2016 award. This award for Rs15 lakh is also for Indian films only. This award aims to strengthen the female voice in Indian cinema."

"Over the last five years, we've made some progress here but it's much too little. The representation of both genders onscreen can only benefit with the inclusion of more female voices. This award is a step toward that."

Over 180 films from 54 countries, including features, documentaries, short films to be showcased at the festival. The film festival will honour director and screenwriter Sai Paranjpye and acclaimed filmmaker, Jia Zhangke with Excellence in Cinema Award.

Filmmaker Vishal Bharadwaj said, "Our Indian Excellence in Cinema award goes to filmmaker Sai Paranjpye. Sai Paranjpye's career has spanned over four decades. Her films are milestones in Indian cinema. Sai's cinema is defined by certain humanity. Her films didn't have oversized heroes and villains. She told slice of life stories about common people. Her work continues to inspire generations of filmmakers."

The 18th JIO MAMI Film Festival which was unveiled on Thursday in a press conference witnessed actor Kangana Ranaut, along with the Board of Trustees — Johar, Bhardwaj, Zoya Akhtar, Rohan Sippy, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Manish Mundra and Dibakar Banerjee with Star co-chairperson, Kiran Rao and festival director Anupama Chopra.

Festival co-chairperson Rao said, "It's been a very exciting year for the Academy. Firstly, we are now a year around presence. We launched the MAMI Film Club in May with a conversation between Sir Ian McKellen and Aamir. We have followed that up with India premieres of films such as Brahman Naman and India in a Day. The Academy is committed to bringing you great film content and conversations not just in October but through the year."

The Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star is less than a month away from offering the city a movie extravaganza unlike any other. The festival is set to kick off on 20 October.