MUMBAI: The 5th Tri Continental Film Festival, organised by the human rights organisation Breakthrough, will commence from 23 January in Mumbai.

The festival, which ends on 25 January, will screen 28 selected films from more than 20 countries and then travel to Goa, Bangalore and Kolkata over four weeks.

“Through the cinema for human rights, we encounter and explore the narratives of exploitation, violence, destitution, apathy as well as internal turmoil's of real people who are at the core of these films. This year's selection will not just be representing these protagonists but also give them a voice that we are sure will resonate with our own circumstances close to home,” said Breakthrough associate director and festival director Alika Khosla.

There are four categories in the festival this year.

1. Body Public – There are six films from five countries in this section. While four are from India, two are co-productions from Spain/ South Africa and Canada/Iran. The films explore the interactions of the human body with the public space and how it comes to embody the social, political and even economic consequences like domestic violence, HIV/Aids and prostitution.

2. Not All in Good Faith – This section has seven films from nine countries that aim to probe and bring to the forefront the indignity and exploitation rendered by neo-liberal development ventures and businesses across the globe where human beings have been reduced to mere pawns.

3. The Line That Defines – Dwelling on the post-modern subject of border crossing, this section comprises four films from five countries. In different ways, the films trace the role of the political border in the making of a refugee, an exile or an illegal immigrant.

4. Zones of War – Eleven films from nine countries explore the zones of war in diverse contexts and historical and contemporary circumstances around the world.

The jury for the 2009 festival comprises five members: Aruna Vasudev (India), Nick Deocampo (Philippines), Madhusree Dutta (India), Amir Muhammad (Malaysia) and Anurag Kashyap (India). They will also decide the winners for the Jury Award for Best Film as well as the Jury Special Mention Award.