Mani Ratnam and Luca Guadagnino to be presented with Excellence in Cinema Award at MAMI

Directors Mani Ratnam and Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name, Bones and All) will be presented with the Excellence in Cinema Award (South Asia) and Excellence in Cinema Award (International), respectively, at the upcoming Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.

The awards honour individuals who have made outstanding, long-lasting contributions to the world of film and cinema. Previous recipients include Darren Aronofsky, Sharmila Tagore, Fernando Meirelles, and Chen Kaige. They will be presented to the filmmakers at the Opening Night ceremony of the festival on October 27.

The festival will also screen Mani Ratnam’s recent historical dramas, Ponniyin Selvan Part I and II, and Luca Guadagnino's Golden Globe-nominated film, I am Love.

Mani Ratnam is an acclaimed filmmaker known for Mouna Ragam (1986), Nayakan (1987), Roja (1992), Bombay (1995), Iruvar (1997), Alaipayuthey (2000), Kannathil Muthamittal (2002) and Guru (2007).

Luca Guadagnino is the auteur filmmaker behind some of the most visceral and visually stunning films, including the Oscar, BAFTA, and Golden Globe-nominated films I Am Love (2009), A Bigger Splash (2015), the Academy Award-winning film Call Me by Your Name (2017), Suspiria (2018), and the feature documentary Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams (2020). Bones and All (2022) won him the Silver Lion for Best Director at the Venice Film Festival 2022. Luca made his TV debut with the HBO drama series We Are Who We Are (2020), which he created, directed, wrote, and produced. His film Challengers starring Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor, will be released in April 2024, and he is currently in post-production for his next feature based on William S. Burroughs’ novel Queer.