THE 2026 FILM & BEYOND AWARD GOES TO FILMMAKER MIRA NAIR
GIFF is pleased to announce the attendance of Indian and US filmmaker Mira Nair, who will receive this year’s Film & Beyond Award, honoring a multidisciplinary artist for their career. Guest of honor of the Festival, she will discuss her workduring a moderated conference on Saturday, October 31, 2026 at the Théâtre Pitoëff, while a selection of her works will be presented throughout the Festival. After beginning her career in non-fiction cinema, she achieved international success in 1988 with Salaam Bombay!, which won the Caméra d’Or at Cannes and was nominated for an Academy Award. She went on to direct Mississippi Masala (1991), before becoming, with Monsoon Wedding, the first Indian female director to win the Golden Lion in Venice in 2001.
The Early Bird Pass costs 110 CHF instead of 165 CHF until midnight on 7 October 2026, the day before the programme is published. It grants access to the Festival’s screenings and Talks, as well as to GIFF PRO, excluding private events.
For its 32nd edition, GIFF pays tribute to Mira Nair, an acclaimed producer and director, by honoring her with the Film & Beyond Award 2026. Mira Nair joins Stephen Frears, Ava DuVernay, Jean-Michel Jarre, Alexandre Astier, Riad Sattouf and Woodkid, among others, who have received the award in recent years.
On Saturday, October 31, 2026, Mira Nair will discuss her artistic practice during a moderated conference at the Théâtre Pitoëff, while a selection of her works will be presented throughout the Festival. This tribute is organised in collaboration with the Cinémathèque suisse and with HEAD – Genève.
From short to feature films, across fiction and non-fiction, Mira Nair has spent several decades building a body of work deeply engaged with Indian society and its transformations. Her films have received numerous awards: in 1988, her first fiction feature, Salaam Bombay!, won the Caméra d’or at the Cannes Film Festival before being nominated for an Academy Award the following year, while Monsoon Wedding won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2001.
Her background in sociology and her personal journey – she lives between Delhi, Kampala and New York, where her son, Zohran Mamdani, took office as Mayor on January 1, 2026 – shape the questions and concerns at the heart of her work. Mira Nair explores the relationships between places, identities and narratives: while The Reluctant Fundamentalist addresses islamophobia in the society of the United States following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Mississippi Masala explores dual belonging and the complexities of love in a multiethnic context. The Namesake examines the consequences of displacement and integration in the construction of Indian identity.
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