In the Life of a Film Festival

In 1997, a group of film industry stalwarts, including Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Shyam Benegal and Ramesh Sippy, founded the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image as a not-for-profit trust to organize an annual international film festival which the film industry and the country can be proud of. Since then, the festival has had its ups and downs. There were days of glory with guests like Oliver Stone, Asghar Farhadi and Jane Campion, but it nearly shut down in 2014 because the main sponsors pulled out (which is when the current team stepped in). Its survival is a testament to our love for cinema. As MAMI celebrates twenty years, this book looks at its storied history and is a tribute to the passion which has made this festival what it is.