MUMBAI: Documentary films play a vital role in truly showcasing human emotions, said Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L Murugan at the inauguration ceremony of the 18th edition of the Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF). Murugan, who declared the gala open on Saturday night, said the ministry is focused on transforming the country into "a content hub of the world". "Our ministry is also giving a platform under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, giving facility to the Film Facilitation Office (FFO) to offer a single-window system, where in film producers can get various department and state approval from a single platform, so that film producers can get easy access and permissions to shoot in India," he added.
MIFF was launched in 1990 is being organised biennially by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and executed by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), the festival celebrates documentaries, short fiction and animation films. At the opening ceremony, renowned wildlife filmmaker Subbiah Nallamuthu was named the recipient of the V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award, instituted in the memory of the legendary filmmaker. Nallamuthu, best known for his tiger-centric documentaries including and , received a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh, a trophy and a citation.
An alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), the filmmaker gained prominence with his work on " ", India's longest-running award-winning environmen.
