Asia on celluloid

Osian Film Festival was a cinematic extravaganza with films by Naseerudin Shah, Stanley Kwan, Mohsin Makhmalbaf only a sample of what was on offer

Nasrin Sultana Delhi

The red carpet was laid, the stars walked in, lights sparkled, people queued up, cameras flashed and thus started Osian's Cinefan, Eighth Asian Film Festival, in Delhi’s Siri Fort, held on 14 -23 July. In rhythm of the Jaisalmer folk musicians' performance, Rajat Kapoor on behalf of Osain's Cinefan welcomed everyone to the sapno ki duniya (world of dreams). Delhi chief minister Sheila Dixit inaugurated the festival by lighting the “Light of Asia”.

The festival of almost 140 films from 40 countries began with the world premiere of Pan Nalin's Valley of Flower featuring Naseeruddin Shah, Milind Soman and French actress Mylene Jamponai. Pan Nalin director of Samsara, said, "Making Valley of Flowers was much more difficult than Samsara." While introducing the cast and crew of the film, Nalin called Naseeruddin a "national treasure of India."                                                                                                                   

The Asian Competition had a collection of films from Iraq, Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia packed with some latest offerings from Sri Lanka, Iran, and Indonesia. In this section, Ceasefire (Iran, 2006) directed by Tahmineh Milani, Dosar (The Companion, 2006) by India’s own Rituparno Ghosh, The Dreams (Iran, 2005) by Mohamed Al-Daradji were the most popular films.

Ceasefire is a satirical film, which shows the troubled life of an Iranian woman after her marriage. However in this film the woman is not shown as only the victim of circumstances; the protagonist possesses agency and is able to negotiate through life through her initiative.

Presenting Dosar Rituparno Ghosh announced, "Konkona's performance and the background score by 21 Grams is the USP of the film." In complete black-and-white, Dosar is an urban tale of infidelity and its effect on a marital couple portrayed by Konkona Sen and Prosenjit.

The eleven films in the Indian Competition included Eternally Secure, Herbert, Just for a Moment and It Could be You. Suman Mukhopadhyay's debut film Herbert intertwines two time frames: past and present.

The Cross-Cultural Encounters section had some popular films like American Blend (USA, 2005) directed by Varun Khanna, Hidden by Michael Heneke and Zozo by Josef Fares in its offerings.

The section entitled “Arabesque” showcased Paradise Now, directed by Hany Abu Azad and Nidal Al-Dibs’ Under the Ceiling. Asian Frescoes featured some of the finest films in the festival namely Mohsen Mahmalbaf's Scream of the Ants, Sex and Philosophy or Eric Khoo's Be with Me, John Williams' Star Fish Hotel (2005) or Huang Jinxin's Gimme Kudos. Scream of the Ants, largely shot in India, is about a girl who is married to an atheist and comes to India searching for truth about life, death and god. Sex and Philosophy is about honest love between four girls and their dancer lover.