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A banquet for cinema lovers

Madhur Tankha

Osian’s-Cinefan Festival begins on July 10

Photo: Mahavir Singh Bisht

Osian’s Connoisseurs of Arts Founder-Chairman Neville Tuli.

NEW DELHI: Cinema lovers in the Capital can look forward to getting a taste of diverse movies at the tenth edition of Osian’s-Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema that starts at Siri Fort auditorium here on July 10. Films will also be screened at Alliance Francaise de Delhi.

Besides screening over 40 short films for the first time this year, the ten-day festival will showcase over 150 films from the Asian and Arab world. It will have six juries comprising 22 distinguished individuals from the global film community.

Stating that the festival intends to reach out to the common people, Osian’s Connoisseurs of Arts Founder-Chairman Neville Tuli said on Wednesday: “We want the working class comprising middle and lowest strata of society to watch these films. At the moment, we cannot expect them to watch sub-titled Asian and Arab films in good numbers, but in another two to three years we hope to capture the minds and hearts of film lovers from all sections of society.”

Mr. Tuli said while he would love to screen Aamir Khan’s “Taare Zameen Par” at the film festival, the film had already reached out to millions of people through its own ability. “The film festival provides a platform to those film-makers who normally don’t get an opportunity to showcase their creativity. I would also like to screen ‘Sarkar Raj’ which is a star-studded film but then there are certain obligations. Film-makers have reservation over treading that path. At the moment we are witnessing a new ethos in Indian film-making. Script writing has undergone a change and so has the financing structure. But we need better scriptwriters, dancers and fashion people to provide intellectual and cultural support to film-making.”

Thanking Delhi Chief Minister for extending support to the festival, Mr. Tuli said the Delhi Government was allowing the festival to be held at the Siri Fort auditorium. “But we don’t want to benefit from the Government’s largesse or philanthropy. We want the private sector to take on more responsibility instead of the Establishment.”

Internationally-acclaimed director Wong Kar-Wai’s film “My Blueberry Nights” will be the centrepiece of the festival. In his debut English film, the film-maker takes the audience on a dramatic journey across the distance between heartbreak and a new beginning.

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