The 11th Osian Cine Fan

The 11th Osian’s Cine Fan film festival kick-started with the gala opening of the Romanian movie ‘Hooked’ on 24th October and ended on 30th October with ‘Waltz with Bashir’. Did I miss anything? Oh, yes! In between was a whole new world of the best of Asian and Arab cinema, a highly enriching experience for all us cinema lovers. Osian’s Cine Fan included movie from Asia and Arab, some for competition and some for screening. Either way, the quality of cinema was beyond anything I have seen!

This year, Osian gave special emphasis to Indian cinema, with the screening of films like Aamir, Kaminey, Luck By Chance, among others. All the same, world cinema registered its presence with elegance. The variety of films gave everyone the choice to watch experimental movie and go through a different experience each time. Apart from the movie screenings (which were wonderful), there was lots going on. The screenings were held in the Siri Fort Complex and at Alliance Francaise. This year, there was an auction of Indian and Asian antiquities and modern art, organised by Osian’s Centre for Archiving Research and Development. There was an exhibition on the History of Indian Cinema which was awe-inspiring, to say the least. Different sections were devoted to the legends of Indian Cinema, like Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor, Guru Dutt, V.Shantaram, Bimal Roy, Mehboob Khan and so many others who carried on the legacy of Indian Cinema. The exhibition included classic stills of movies of these directors and the actors and actresses, and also the hand-painted posters of that time. There were booklets containing synopsis of movies, with the song lyrics in both Hindi and English. A section was devoted to Satyajit Ray and Bengali cinema, while another showcased different adaptations of Devdas- right from P.C.Borua’s 1935 version to Anurag Kashyap’s latest. There was section on the cinematic history of the silent era and also a section on the chemistry of hearts!

The NewStream section showcased films that have redefined mainstream Indian cinema last year; and their film makers and others associated with the film interacted with the audience via Q&A sessions, lectures, exhaustive panel discussion, etc. Noted lyricist Gulzar was honoured the Lifetime Achievement award. As for the competition, ‘The Long Night’ (Syria) won the Osian’s Cine Fan award as well as the NETPAC-FIPRESCI award (Network for The Promotion of Asian Cinema Federation of International Film Critics). ‘Khargosh’ (India) won the Special Jury award at both Cine Fan and NETPAC-FIPRESCI, as well as the Audience award. ‘The First Film’(Iran), won the award for Best Film in the Shorts competition, where ‘Vithal’(India) got a special mention. Mr.P.N.Srivastava, an avid cinema enthusiast, who comes all the way from Lucknow, especially for Osian, wisely comments, “This festival of Asian and Arab films is not reaching the audience it deserves. Media focuses more on European cinema which has got the tag of ‘world’ cinema. Asian cinema deals with a much better movie concept. These movies have a cinematic language that transcends all borders. People should know the kind of cinema Asia has to offer, especially Iran and China. These films make us sit back and think. They don’t need any special effects to make an impact. For me, this is real world cinema.”