MUMBAI: Writer, director, editor Dev Benegal, known for his film English August, has been roped in as one of the judges in the short film section of the 12th Mumbai Film Festival (MFF) starting from 21 October.
Aimed at the youth of Mumbai under 25, the new section called Dimensions Mumbai includes films made on the city by aspiring directors.
Besides Benegal, others who form the jury of the particular section are Bishaka Dutta, Brahmanand S. Singh, Ashim Ahuluwalia and Manish Acharya.
While Datta is a journalist; Singh is known for making a National Award-winning documentary on legendary composer R.D. Burman called Pancham Unmixed: Mujhe Chalte Jaana Hai. Ahluwalia is a screenwriter-filmmaker with credits like John & Jane and the soon-to-release Hindi film Miss Lovely. Acharya is known for his comedy Loins of Punjab Presents.
Apart from short fiction, the competition is also open to documentary and animation films. The five jurors will select the top 20 films from the received entries that will be screened at the gala.
The winner and the runner-up in the Dimensions Mumbai section will receive Silver Gateway trophies and cash prizes of Rs.100,000 and Rs.50,000 respectively.
