Osian's-Cinefan film fest is back after two years

Movie time

After a two year of hiatus, Osian’s-Cinefan Film Festival is all set to hit the cultural scene once again with its 12th edition. The festival will be held between 27 July-5 August. Once again the Festival has been organised in collaboration with the Government of Delhi.

The festival promises to showcase the best of Asian, Arab and Indian cinema by showcasing films from all over. Osian’s-Cinefan this year will salute the memory of Mani Kaul, the late avant-garde filmmaker, best known for his landmark works Uski Roti, Ashadh Ka Ek Din, Duvidha and Idiot.

Mani had been the Creative Director at Osian’s since 2006 and was Director General OCFF 11 held in 2009.

According to Indu Shrikent, the festival director, the focus of this year’s festival will remain on ‘Freedom of Creative Thought and Expression’ and festival will continue to promote the same throughout this 12th season.

“We bring to you the best of Arab and Asian cinema. We are also planning to host film making competitions that will encourage genres of cinema and their various aspects. The winners will be selected through an internal process by experts.”

Apart from the regular sections Feature Film, Short Film, Animation and Tribute, the festival promises a ‘Special Focus’ dedicated to Environment this time.

Osian’s-Cinefan has also adopted ‘Turtle’ as their symbol, beginning this edition. The turtle is the spiritual vahana for the river Yamuna, and also represents longevity and wisdom. It has also been chosen keeping in mind the drive to conserve environment.

Keeping the environment theme in mind, even the award trophy this time has been crafted out of terracotta. It has been designed by the eminent artist K. Laxma Goud.

Laxma Goud’s depiction of the human-animal-nature continum have represented some of the finest examples in Modern Indian Art.

In a related event, the Osian’s-Cinefan will also host a three day summit on Delhi: The Next Film City. This is being organised keeping in mind the rapidly developing interest of filming in Delhi. 

Cinefan was initiated in 1999 with 27 films presented by the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) and supported by the Government of Delhi. In 2004, the festival was taken over by Osian’s Connoisseurs of Art and was renamed Osian’s-Cinefan.

2012 marks the beginning of its 12th season which promises to be more fun as the festival has grown with the inclusion of more movies, genres and countries.