Osian's-Cinefan, the largest film-festival devoted to Asian and Arab cinema, is part of Osian's Film House Division. The festival celebrated its 10th anniversary in July 2008. After a two-year break, the 12th staging of the festival took place in July 2012.
History
Cinefan began in 1999 as an outgrowth of Cinemaya, a quarterly Asian cinema magazine published in New Delhi since 1988. The festival was launched with 27 films presented by the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema and supported by the government of Delhi. The focus that first year was on cinema of Japan as well as the 30th anniversary of the Indian New Wave with a selection of films by New Wave directors. The festival was taken over in 2004 by Osian's Connoisseurs of Art and was renamed Osian's-Cinefan.
10th Osian's-Cinefan
Osian's-Cinefan, 10th festival of Asian and Arab cinema was held in New Delhi 10–20 July 2008. The main focus was the relationship between writing and cinema, which was explored through film screenings and seminars. This section, comprising novels in adaptation, will be the basis of a new literary festival, introduced at Osian's-Cinefan for the first time. It will include readings and discussions between writers and filmmakers. Girish Kasaravalli's Kannada movie Gulabi Talkies gained the best Indian film award at the festival, and Umashree won the Best actress award for the same film. Osian's Lifetime Achievement Award for Contribution to Cinema instituted that year was awarded to eminent filmmaker Mrinal Sen. Aruna Vasudev Lifetime Achievement Award for Writing on Cinema was conferred on Jose "Pete" F. Lacaba. Osian's announced prize money worth Rs 10 million for its Competition sections and Lifetime Achievement awards.
Sections
Competition
Asian and Arab: Asian and Arab films made between May 2007 and April 2008 Indian Competition:Indian films made between May 2007 and April 2008 First Features: First features by Asian, Arab or Indian directors made between May 2007 and April 2008 In-Tolerance: A competitive section, it includes feature and documentary films that respond to or deal with the intolerance of our times, intolerance of the other, of differences, deviations and departures.
Out of competition
Frescoes: New films from Asian and Arab countries that showcase the richness and diversity of their cinemas Indian Mosaic: New films from India Cross-Cultural Encounters: Films that show a cross-cultural connection between Asian, Arab and other cultures Filmcraft: Screenplay : Films chosen with a view to opening a debate on whether the screenplay is a necessary evil and whether the verbal document called the screenplay can presage the living reality of images and sound in cinema Films from Israel and Palestine: A glimpse of Israeli and Palestinian cinema 60 years after U.N. partition of Palestine Writing and Cinema:The novel in adaptation and tribute to Naguib Mahfouz. Springboard: A Tribute to Osian's-Cinefan The Ten Commandments : Celebrating the significance of the number 10 on the occasion of the festival's 10th anniversary. The films explore the manner in which cinema has navigated the narrow alley between censorship, transgression and pleasure throughout its history. A New Focus:Short fiction films of less than 40 minutes duration from Asian, Indian or Arab countries. Retrospectives and Tributes
Talent Campus India #5 2008
Osian's-Cinefan announced the 5th edition of Talent Campus India organised in collaboration with Berlinale Talent Campus, Berlin International Film Festival and Max Mueller Bhavan, New Delhi. Talent Campus is a six-day workshop where up to 30 young aspiring filmmakers will be invited from India, neighbouring South Asian countries, and Iran to New Delhi to interact with renowned filmmakers and film professionals from India and abroad. The aim of the workshop is to provide youth a forum for learning and sharing the process of filmmaking. The application is open to India, its neighbouring countries as well as Iran. Areas of discussion will include screenplay writing, adaptation of novel, direction and understanding key issues such as audience and genre. In addition to attending seminars and workshops, the selected talents had the opportunity to see the very best of Asian cinema showcased during Osian's-Cinefan 10.
2012 Osian's-Cinefan Festival
At the 2012 Osian Cinefan Festival, held in August 2012, Hindi film B.A. Pass won the Best Film Award in Indian competition section, while Shadab Kamal won the Best Actor award.
