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The 2024 MAMI Mumbai Film Festival was a box of surprises. As I applaud the curators (yet again), the programming was designed in a manner that it wasn’t impossible to catch the popular titles even when the venues weren’t close to each other.
In short, I had a fantastic time covering this season as the 2024 MAMI Mumbai Film Festival lived up to its legacy with an impressive line-up despite no title sponsor.
Below are my Top 20, ranked in reverse order:
20. Sasquatch Sunset (USA)
A hilarious and unexpected comedy set around a family of sasquatches, the David Zellner-Nathan Zellner film is unlike anything you might have seen ever. The film takes its own sweet time to immerse you into its world and the deadpan humor would work for those who appreciate its intent.
19. Wild Flower Garland (India)
In a wonderfully nostalgic film set in the south of India, an ancestral house becomes the narrator (Jayarama Rao). Udayraj P.J. directs this enchanting film about rural living. It is notable for its masterful use of repetition, aerial shots, and a beautiful soundtrack that lingers.
18. An Unfinished Film (Singapore, Germany)
The COVID-19 set film is a fictionalized documentation of the familiar times during an unexpected lockdown in 2020. Set in China, amid a film crew, An Unfinished Film works almost as a love story and the song (‘Do you want to buy vegetables’) is my top favorite among the movies screened at the 2024 MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.
17. Universal Language (Canada)
An absurdist charmer, the French-Farsi film oscillates between two stories. Filled with edgy characters, the limelight stealers are a pageant-winner turkey and Kleenex – the latter in what must be the most authentic in-film advertising ever.
16. Kneecap (Ireland, United Kingdom)
A high-on-testosterone, slickly edited Irish musical drama, Kneecap has the material, pace, and performances to win you over. Based on a real story (the actors play themselves), the film is a blast for its style, politics, and attitude. Among other things, the editing in particular is among the best in cinema, this year.
15. Little Jaffna (France, Sri Lanka)
An unexpected ode to Vijay films of our times, Lawrence Valin’s Little Jaffna shines in its political verve. The film’s commentary on Sri Lankan politics, martyrdom, and the idea of patriotism coupled with an ambiguous ending makes it open for many discussions.
14. A Traveler’s Needs (South Korea)
In his third collaboration with Isabelle Huppert, Hong Sang-soo delivers a charming little comedy called A Traveler’s Needs. One that follows a French woman’s (Huppert as Iris) activities as interactions in suburban Korea where she teaches French through an unusual technique, the film is a silent charmer.
13. Girls will be Girls (India)
Set in and around a boarding school, Shuchi Talati’s Girls Will Be Girls is a delightfully feminist film with many clever subtexts. Besides chronicling the style of education and the way of life in India, the film also offers a solid perspective on parenting and relationships. Actors Preeti Panigrahi, Kani Kusruti, and Kesav Binoy Kiran deliver notable performances in a film that was an audience’s favorite at the 2024 MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.
12. Diciannove (Italy, United Kingdom)
Manfredi Marini is extraordinary in his first film outing Diciannove. The actor plays a 19-year-old who dabbles kinetically between a passion for Italian literature and the constantly surging hormones. Filmmaker Giovanni Tortorici (in his feature debut) paints a messy coming-of-age drama and is true to its protagonist’s restless demeanor.
11. A Different Man (USA)
Aaron Schimberg traverses a marginalized person’s mindscape in A Different Man. Sebastian Stan internalizes the protagonist’s pains to deliver a bravura central act along with Renate Reinsve and Adam Pearson. The film has to be among the most conventionally entertaining films to be shown at the 2024 MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, this year.
10. On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (Ireland, United Kingdom, USA, Zambia)
A tale of child abuse woven around a backdrop of irrepressible patriarchy, Rungano Nyoni is revelatory in ways more than one. While several of its twists might be triggering, it is a true portrayal of a way of living that is normalized in third-world nations. With a stupendous ensemble cast taking care of delivering the chills, the Zambia-set drama emerges as a major winner in this year’s festival rounds.
9. Dying (Germany)
Is a mother always obligated to love her child? What if the child was an ‘accident’? How is the bond going to develop? One that answers a string of questions such as this, Matthias Glasner’s Dying is the dysfunctional family drama film genre done right. The romantic (or sexual) moments staged in a dentist’s cabin brought back the bizarre memories of reading R. K. Narayan’s Salt and Sawdust. While its three-hour-long runtime felt a bit strenuous, it cannot be disputed that the film registers its point like a hammer does to a nail.
8. Rhythm of a Flower (India)
Amit Dutta’s film, which won the Golden Gateway Prize at the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, is a visual and aural delight. One that takes us on a journey through Indian classical singer Kumar Gandharva’s life, its mesmerizing music does not surprise us. It is the innovative design and unique storytelling with luscious animation that make sure it is unlike any biographical film you have watched this year.
7. April (Georgia, Italy, France)
If you do not get grossed out by graphic images, Dea Kulumbegashvili’s film will blow your mind. Through a slow-burn narrative that abounds in still frames and static cameras, April is a gutting tale about women’s autonomy over their bodies. Ia Sukhitashvili in the leading role delivers one of the best acts in any film at the festival this year.
6. Misericordia (France, Spain, Portugal)
The underrated gem honor at the 2024 MAMI Mumbai Film Festival must go to Alain Guiraudie’s Misericordia. Whoever watched it had a blast and it is evident that the cast and crew had a fantastic time filming this absolute banger of a film. As the story builds up, it bravely takes on relationships, religion, and all things orthodox. The central performance is phenomenal and the closing shot is the perfect icing on the hugely underrated cake the film is.
5. Anora (USA)
Sean Baker’s film quietly deconstructs love for a generation that understands a “happy ending” as a mere innuendo. It exposes how economic disparities could rewrite many a dated fairy tale. Anora closed the 2024 MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in great style.
4. The Fable (India)
If Raam Reddy’s Thithi’s rural Karnataka setting felt as if it were made by someone who grew up in that surrounding, The Fable radiates an anecdotal quality. Set in the Himalayan foothills, Reddy’s new film takes us to 1989 amid apple orchards, wildfires, an Indigenous community, and a blue-collar clan in awe of their employer. Casting Manoj Bajpayee as Dev in itself is half battle won as the actor approaches the part with a balance of tenderness and anger. As a householder and an employer, the actor paints a dual picture of himself – neither of which is unlikeable – but not without leaving an afterthought on his morals.
3. The Girl with The Needle (Denmark, Poland, Sweden)
You cannot watch Magnus von Horn’s Denmark-bound masterpiece without heaving many a thousand sighs. A creative adaptation of serial killer Dagmar Overbye’s life, the film, despite a heavy dose of violence (both visual and implied), is incredibly well-made. Trine Dyrholm as Dagmar is a force of nature as she pulls off a fire-spitting character with aplomb.
2. Emilia Pérez (France)
Jacques Audiard’s film is a gutting story of women, their dreams & needs. With the riotous trio Zoe Saldana, Selena Gomez, and Karla Sofía Gascón, the film is loaded with humor, music, and great thrills.
1. All We Imagine as Light (France, India, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy)
Director Payal Kapadia’s Cannes Grand Prix winner All We Imagine As Light sees three migrant women glide through Mumbai’s never-ending mysteries. The powerful drama starring Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, and Chhaya Kadam is the best to be screened in 2024’s MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.
Screened at MAMI 2024, but watched earlier: The Substance, The Damned, Nocturnes
Notable Disappointments: Armand, The Room Next Door
ALSO READ: 20 Incredible Films from the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2023
