Martial arts are focus for Cinefan 2005!
With about 120 films from 30 odd countries, Delhi's premier film fest is larger and promises to be better than ever before.
When Cinefan launched in Delhi seven years ago, it ushered in a whole new era for the city's cinephiles. Over the years great films, numerous stars, international giants of repute - all have graced the festival and been part of a now-great tradition.
And it's that time of the year again. When life largely consists of rushing from theatre to theatre, seeing an amazingly rich variety of cinema, largely Asian, meeting
auteurs
, actors, writers, production controllers, even agents and PR managers, squeezing in meals, friends, families somewhere in between - when cinema takes precedence over everything else.
For the Osian Cinefan festival is to soon have its 7th edition in the city, from July 15 to 24. Larger than ever before – from the 15 films it had its inaugural year to the 125 it will have this year – the journey that has seen the festival consolidate itself in a very short span of time. Today, those interested in cinema beyond the mainstream actually make it a point to keep themselves free during these days.
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| A still from A Monk's Awakening, part of the the martial arts film package to be screened at Cinefan 2005. |
Announcing the festival details, Osian Chairman Neville Tuli and festival director Aruna Vasudev revealed a stress on Indian films - almost double the number from the previous edition.
The newly introduced Indian competition section, for which 11 films will compete. These include Sandip Ray's
Nishijapon
, Santosh Sivan's
Navarasa
, Rajkumar Bhan's
Darpan ke Peeche,
Kamal Sadanah's
Karkash
, Sekhar Das'
Krantikaal
, Kaushik Ganguly's
Shunyo e Buke
, Shoojit Sarkar's
Yahaan
, Jahar Kanungo's
Nisshabd
, Kanika Verma's
Dansh
, Sanjay Jha's
Strings
and Kundan Shah's
Teen Behnein
.
This year’s edition will have all the regular sections – and some new ones too.
Among the innovations this year is the IBM2 – (Infrastructure Building for Minds and Markets) - which will include interactive seminars, lectures, debates and exhibitions.
A special attraction this year is a package on martial arts films from across Asia. A genre that has a faithful following across continents, films from Japan, China, Korea, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Indonesia promise some mesmerising moments for fans. The films include the award winning short film A Monk’s Awakening by Lou Ma Ho, Out Live directed by Kim Young-Jun and Ryu Seung-wan’s zany and energetic Arahan.
Talent Hunt, a section started last year, continues and will provide about 50 selected young filmmakers opportunities to interact and learn from the best practitioners in the professions.
Regular sections of the festival, Asian Competition, Asian Frescoes, Arabesque, tributes and special screenings still form the backbone. Indian Osean will have Indian films outside the competition.
The two greats being acknowleged this year are Taiwan's Hou Hsiao-Hsein and Satyajit Ray. Tributes are also being paid to Fonds Sud Cinema and Fortissimo Films, a major distributor.
The centrepiece for the festival is Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali. The festival opens with Wang Xiaoshai's Shangahi Dreams and Buddhadeb Dasgupta's Kaalpurush.
The festival will also have a related event in Mumbai, where Tuli has already inaugurated an exhibition of Indian film memorabilia and art archives. The exhibition is on from July 5 to 12.
So come, indulge yourself as Cinefan lays out its treasures this year.