Mumbai: Spanish Director Carlos Saura was felicitated with the Global Lifetime Achievement Award at the 10th Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image (MAMI) International Film Festival awards ceremony on 13 March. Also, Dharmendra was awarded the lifetime achievement award by actor-director Dev Anands.

The Global Lifetime Achievement Award has been instituted this year to recognize an international director for his/her contribution to the world cinema. The first award was conferred on Saura, who was in Mumbai to attend the function.

The other awardees at the 10th MAMI International Film Festival were Rishi Kapoor for Significant Contribution to Cinema over 25 years, Gulzar for Outstanding Contribution to Indian Film Music as Lyrics Writer and the Kodak Award for Technical Excellence to Hitendra Ghosh.

In order to nurture talent and provide a platform to new generation of filmmakers on the occasion of its 10th edition, Jaya Bachchan, one of the trustees of MAMI, introduced a new initiative called Dimensions Mumbai. Under this, digital films under five minute durations depicting various aspects of life in Mumbai were invited, for which there was a tremendous response of 85 entries. The winners were announced at the closing ceremony.

The closing event had the esteemed presence a panel of film directors from Mexico, France and European countries along with Shyam Benegal, Chairman of MAMI and other Trustees of MAMI. Japanese film The Mourning Forest was screened, a film that won the Grand Prix at the 60th edition of Cannes Film Festival in 2007.

Presented by Reliance Big Entertainment, the weeklong festival was inaugurated on 6 March and screened 140 films from 45 countries.