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Naseeruddin Shah

Osian Film Fest showcases the best of Asian cinema
17th July 2006 13.10 IST
By N. K. Deoshi

The 8th Osian CineFan Film Festival brings the best of Asian and Arab cinema to New Delhi.

The festival has come a long way since its fledgling start seven years ago when only a handful of films used to be screened at a rather small auditorium at India Habitat Centre.

This year, the Osian festival has taken yet another step forward, with over a 100 films from 40 different countries being screened at three auditoriums at Siri Fort Complex and at Alliance Francaise.

Following its tradition, the festival brings thought-provoking and emotionally stimulating cinema from India, the Middle East, Asia Minor, South East Asia and the far East.

The festival also commemorates the 2550th birth anniversary of Lord Buddha by showcasing a selection of films on Buddhism in its special ‘Middle Path’ section. The prominent films in this section are ‘Siddhartha’, by Conrad Rooks (based on the novel of the same title by the Nobel laureate Hermann Hesse), ‘Milarepa’ by Bhutanese director Neten Chokling, ‘Little Buddha’ by Italian filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci, ‘Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter’ by South Korean director Kim Ki-Duk, and ‘Why Did Bodhi Dharma Leave For The East’ by Korean director Bae Yong-kyun.

The festival pays tribute to two directors – Ritwik Ghatak and Stanley Kwan – through a selection of some of their best cinematic works.

Naseeruddin Shah ’s directorial debut Yun Hota To Kya Hota will premiere at the fest on July 19, Wednesday. The festival will also premiere Onir’s (director of My Brother Nikhil ) next movie Bas Ek Pal , starring Mahima Chaudhary Sanjay Suri , Urmila Matondkar and Juhi Chawla .

Cinema from countries like Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Yemen, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Oman will be shown in the Arabesque section. This year’s Golden Globe Award winner (Best Foreign Film), ‘Paradise Now, was shown on Sunday evening. Saudi Arabia’s first ever feature film, ‘Today and Tomorrow’, will be screened on Monday in the festival’s Asian Competition section.

The Indian competition section features latest works from filmmakers like Girish Kasaravalli, Santosh Sivan , Subrato Sen, Taranjit Singh and Ashoke Vishwanathan.

The festival also features three outstanding documentaries in its In-Tolerance section. Another section, Cross-Cultural Encounters, presents a number of films on the theme of meeting of different cultures.

The festival opened with Pan Nalin’s film ‘Valley Of Flowers’ and will conclude with Iranian film ‘Offside’ on July 23, Sunday.

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Naseeruddin Shah
Yun Hota To Kya Hota
My Brother Nikhil
Bas Ek Pal
Mahima Chaudhary
Sanjay Suri
Urmila Matondkar
Juhi Chawla
Santosh Sivan