MAMI, Mumbai’s premier film festival, has been postponed to next year, skipping this year's edition and the news has sparked strong reactions!
The world of Mumbai’s film festivals has come to a standstill as it was announced recently that MAMI will not happen this year. After losing its major sponsors, MAMI festival director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur publicly announced that the 2025 edition of the film festival has been cancelled. The team, he said, is now focused on revamping and restructuring the festival, aiming to return next year with renewed energy and a stronger vision.
The announcement has sent shockwaves through the cinema community and among cinephiles for whom MAMI was nothing short of a cinematic haven every October. The festival, founded in 1997 by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI), has been a cornerstone of India’s independent and regional film culture for nearly three decades, almost 28 years. What makes this harder to digest is the timing. Just a few days ago, we did a story featuring voices like Shahana Goswami and independent filmmakers Harshad Nalawade whose film Follower had its premiere in MAMI. The conversation that led from censorship to no theatre slot for indie cinema centered around one recurring truth - if we want to bridge the gap between indie films and their audiences, we need to create and protect dedicated spaces where independent cinema can shine, be marketed effectively, and actually reach the viewers it deserves. And there was one space that did exactly that - MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.
Indie filmmakers could count on it. Many films that premiered at MAMI went on to gain visibility, land distribution deals, and even secure theatrical releases. It was a trusted launchpad, a festival that made room for voices that otherwise go unheard. Anurag Kashyap’s film Kennedy premiered at Cannes in 2023 and is still struggling to find a release; MAMI gave this film the platform in India for audiences to have a chance to see what Kashyap had cooked after years. When this possibility is taken away from films that struggle to reach audiences, what’s left? At some point, the response becomes less about outrage and more about the quiet grief of losing yet another space that once belonged to those who had none. Sure, in the global scheme of things, MAMI might be just one small festival. Its absence may not register with the wider world. But for filmmakers working outside the commercial machine, this was a rare roof over their heads, a safe corner where their work mattered. Which is why filmmaker Hansal Mehta has openly called out those who once championed the festival, the very people who took it forward, and have now moved on to their own safer pastures. His frustration speaks to a larger mood in the industry that a city that is home for cinema can’t save its own film festival?
As expected, more reactions are pouring in from other filmmakers and audiences who are all wondering the same thing - without MAMI, what’s left?
What are your thoughts on this subject? Tell us in the comments below!
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