Rahman's tunes to set the tone at IFFM

The Chinese film Warriors Of Heaven And Earth, the soundtrack of which was composed by A R Rahman, will begin the sixth International Film Festival of Mumbai (IFFM), scheduled to begin on November 20.

Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde is expected to inaugurate the event, and actress-turned-director Aparna Sen
will be chief guest at the inaugural function. 

The seven-day festival organised by the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image (MAMI) will be held at the Imax Theatres in Wadala, central Mumbai, said MAMI managing trustee Govind Swarup. He added IFFM had an impressive record of screening films which later bagged laurels and international acclaim.

The Sixth Sense, Monsoon Wedding and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which began festivals in the past, were tremendously recieved in the market. "We hope the same for the Warriors Of Heaven And Earth," said Swarup. 

Vikramjit Roy, of Columbia Tristar Films, India, said Warriors Of Heaven And Earth has been selected as China's official language film entry to the 2004 Academy Awards. 

Around 80 films, including films in the Film India Worldwide Section, from 28 countries will be screened at the seven-day event, including Four Feathers, Bokshu - The Myth, Flavors, The Badger, The Bypass and Chutney Popcorn.

Manish Jha's Matrubhoomi - A Nation Without Women, winner of FIPRESCI Award at this year's Cannes Film Festival, will be the closing ceremony film on November 27.

Thirteen Indian films in competition will be judged by an international jury headed by renowned screenplay writer Vijay Tendulkar.

Other highlights of the festival are: the special screening of Slovak film Sagarmatha, celebrating 50 years of scaling of Mt Everest, and a retrospective of Hungarian director Zoltan Fabri's films to mark his 10th death anniversary.

Young Italian directors will be introduced in the River to River New Italian Eyes Section, contemporary Swiss directors in Blurring Boundaries, and French directors in the French Connection.

There will also be a digital section, a workshop on script-writing and a seminar in collaboration  with the International School of Business and Media, said IFFM programme director Sudhir Nandgaonkar.