15 films to watch out for at the MAMI festival

Mahmoud Sabbagh's film has generated quite a buzz. Having won the Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival, it arrives in Mumbai with a high dose of expectation. The story, set in Saudi Arabia, of a civil servant meeting an internet star, is a wonderfully whimsical journey that is also Saudi Arabia's official entry to the Oscars this year. 

If you thought Piku was outrageous, Swiss Army Man will blow your olfactory senses out of the water. Daniel Radcliffe plays a farting corpse that proves to be the saviour of a dishevelled Paul Dano stranded on an island. Insensitively funny, outrageous and crazy, this is a film that, literally, blows conventions away. Incidentally, a number of people walked out of the screening at the Sundance Film Festival. Yet, the film won the Director's Prize. That should give you some idea what to expect. 

Konkona Sen Sharma's directorial debut has a stunning cast, and a very interesting trailer going for it. With Ranvir Shorey, Vikrant Massey, Kalki Koechlin, Om Puri and Tanuja, the film is an intense thriller set in McCluskiegunj, near Ranchi. Premiered at the 21st Toronto International Film Festival last month and the Busan International Film Festival earlier this month, it marks the transformation of an intelligent actress into a skilled director. 

This little documentary was the only Indian film to be selected for the prestigious Cannes International Film Festival earlier this year. An enthralling portrait of the fading world of 'travelling cinemas' in the country, it was born of the journey of two directors following groups of three such cinemas over five years. A brilliant documentary, particularly for cinephiles who love the medium for its own sake, it is a reminder of an old-world charm that might soon go extinct in the big-business world of cinema. 

Do not be misled by the title; this is not a biopic of the famous Chilean poet. Director Pablo Larrain has employed a fictional narrative technique to speak of the role of the radical artist in a society. The story follows a police inspector assigned to arrest the poet, Neruda, in 1940s Chile. Screened at the Directors' Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, it was also selected as the Chilean entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards. 

The film with the biggest buzz is definitely I, Daniel Blake. Directed by the veteran Ken Loach, the film is a moving political drama about an ailing carpenter fighting for his welfare benefits. The story of people trapped in the discombobulating wires of bureaucracy, it has a familiarity that is unnerving. The film won the Palme d'Or and the Palme Dogmanitarian Awards at Cannes earlier this year, along with the Prix Du Public at the Locarno International Film Festival. It has been hailed as one of Loach's finest. Quite the praise, considering the director's filmography includes Kes (1989) and The Wind That Shakes The Barley (2006).

Feminism might be the 'in' thing today, but filmmakers have always been fighting for the cause for a long time. Sand Storm, by Elite Zexer, falls in the radical category of this genre. The tale of Bedouin women struggling to break free of their shackles, and finding love, hope, and courage in a stifling society, the film won the Grand Jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival this year. 

Alankrita Shrivastava's sparkly little film has caught the eye of film lovers across the country. Set in the little towns of India, the film tells of the struggles, frustrations, and desires of women finding themselves in the context of a new and growing India. With Konkona Sen Sharma and Ratna Pathak Shah leading the cast, the film has a lot going for it.

Speaking of breaking new ground, Sudhanshu Saria's turbulent emotional drama of three men caught between friendship and love has arrived in Mumbai after a long journey across the world. The film premiered at the Tallinn Black Nights Festival in Estonia last year. It manages to convey a sensitive, restrained tale of love without necessarily positioning itself as a film about gay and lesbian rights. Definitely worth a watch. 

Winner of the Critics Award at the Venice Film Festival, The Road To Mandalay has been receiving grave praise since its premiere. A tale of immigrants seeking refuge in a peaceful country, the film has touched a chord around the world. The powerful and tragic love story embedded within the film only adds to its gravitas.

You don't need a more compelling reason to watch this film than Asghar Farhadi. The acclaimed Iranian auteur, whose A Separation (2011) won the Golden Bear and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 2011, returns to the theme of complicated human relationships. The movie won Best Screenplay and Best Actor awards at Cannes, and looks to be one of the more splendid films in the lineup at Mumbai.

Speaking of splendid, this little film is making waves at the festival. Milind Dhaimade's film about a group of young men simply looking for a place to play football on Sunday borders on dark comedy. The film represents the new wave of cinema in India, with its mix of Bollywoodish content and realistic techniques of filmmaking. It certainly makes for an interesting trailer.

The Guardian newspaper's review described it as 'the weirdest story ever to have emerged from world cinema'. It seems an apt description of a documentary that follows a filmmaker and his actress wife who were kidnapped by one of the most feared dictators of the 21st century, Kim Jong-il. Director Rob Cannan describes his motivation behind the film thus: 'As a film about filmmakers caught up in a narrative beyond their own making, it had particular appeal for us – as storytellers.' For viewers too, there can be few more compelling reasons. 

An anthology with six directors on the theme of love in the context of the modern age, Madly is a collage of intimate portraits that promise to make an impact. Anurag Kashyap joins such acclaimed names as Gael Garcia Bernal, Sion Sono, Sebastian Silva, Natasha Khan and Mia Wasikowska in this weird but sensitive compilation. Definitely worth checking out. 

Auteur, dramatist, poet, actor, filmmaker, Alejandro Jodorowsky is many things rolled into one personality. In his latest venture, he makes a fictional autobiography portraying his own 20-year-old self's struggle to become a poet against the decision of his film. Wonderfully whimsical, beautifully poetic, the film is a sensual, authentic, and mad self-portrait of an artist at his prime.