Nith Osian's cinefan festival of Asian and Arab cinema begins

New Delhi, July 20 (UNI) The Ninth Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab cinema kicked off here this evening with the international premiere of Babak Shirinshefat's film 'Raami'.

A glittering function, with presence of celebrities from International cinema and Bollywood stars Manisha Koirala, Gul Panag and Divya Dutta, marked the inaugural ceremony of this ten-day celebration of Asian and Arab cinema with chairman of the Osian's Connoiseurs of Arts Nevile Tuli describing the variety of films featured at the festival as one ''which will open our hearts and minds''.

The inaugural lamp was lit by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, amid the presence of Mr Tuli and festival founder and Cinemaya editor Aruna Vasudev.

The Chief Minister also awarded the lifetime achievement award to Japanese writer and scholar Tadao Sato for his distinguished contribution to writing on cinema.

The Chief Minister said,''I have had the privilege and honour of growing up with the festival, having seen it brought to Delhi shakingly nine years ago by Ms Aruna Vasudev.

Now, Neville has transformed the festival into one of the most important events that Delhiites look forward to.'' Reflecting the unparalleled diversity and eclectism of the cinemas of Asia at the ten-day festival will be a total of 140 films, drawn from more than 35 countries.

Over the period of the next nine days, these films will be screened at the Siri Fort Auditoria complex, Alliance Francaise de Delhi, PVR Plaza and PVR Rivoli.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Neville Tuli said Osian's Cinefan, as the Asian film festival is called, was a perfect example of the fact that institutions for the celebration of cinematic culture can be build with corporate support without compromising the creative aspect of the art.'' ''It is normally seen that materialism involved in a creative endeavour keeps the value of creativity on the margins in a society like India where 90 per cent of creativity is shared through a charitable institution,''Neville said.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, festival founder Aruna Vasudev said,''the Osian's Cinefan festival is not only a celebration of just films but also the mind.'' Expressing her gratitude towards Ms Dikshit for the help extended by her Government to the festival over the past years, Ms Vasudev said,''when Ms Dikshit became the Chief Minister five years ago, she volunteered to join in her endeavour to make Delhi the cultural capital of India. With her immense help, we have been able to achieve just that.'' She expressed happiness that this year, the PVR Group had also joined in the endeavour to spread the festival and, through it, the cinematic culture.

According to Neville Tuli the organisation of the annual festival, being jointly organised by the Osian's connoiseurs of arts in collaboration with the Delhi Government, was a part of their endeavour to develop a healthy culture for cinema in the country as also provide a platform for promotion of good films, many of them made by first time filmmakers which otherwise may not find an outlet.

Preceding the screening of 'Raami' was a breathtaking magic show which left hundreds of lovers of cinema enthralled. Also lending glitter to the function was presence of Bollywood celebrities like Manisha Koirala, Divya Dutta and Gul Panag besides a host of personalities from the world of International cinema.

To draw in a wider audience that the festival films will this year also be screened at the PVR Plaza and PVR Rivoli thoug tickets for the shows there will be prices at Rs 50 as against rs 20 on other venues.

'Raami', the film that kickstarted the festival, is an Iran-Azerbaijan co-production that deals with man's relation with nature, war and music.

Directed by Iranian filmmaker Babak Shirinshefat, 'Raami' is set in the backdrop of the period post the Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, The ten day festival will close on July 29 with the Egyptian film 'Cut and Paste' by Hala Khalil. A gentle satire, 'Cut and Paste' is a grim look at problems facing Egyptian society.

This year's edition of the festival, with a tagline 'Recreating cinematic culture', will have a focus on Japan with a tribute to Kenji Mizoguchi. As part of its focus on japan, the festival will screen a number of contemporary Japanese and Samurai films.

Also accompanying this focus are unique Japanese poster designs of World cinema. Besides, on display will be one of the biggest exhibitions from the realm of magic and fiction, cinematic artworks from the realm of Horror and Science fiction, and displays of the legendary divas of world cinema as well as a gigantic display of 50 great Indian female stars.

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