Neville Tuli, film connoisseur and founder-chairman of Osian’s Connoisseurs of Art, wants to live in a world where a much wider cross section of people—he mentioned Daryaganj and Chandni Chowk at the press conference—come and watch world movies. This might sound ambitious, but the Osian’s Cinefan Festival (OCFF) in Delhi is a big step in that direction.
In the 10 years of its existence, OCFF has become a fixture for cinephiles in New Delhi and beyond, many of whom basically camp out at New Delhi’s Siri Fort Auditorium for the 10 days that the festival is on. The 10th OCFF of Arab and Asian Cinema will start on 10 July and continue till 20 July, showcasing more than 200 movies from across the world, spanning many genres. These include more than 150 full-features and 42 short films, which have been allotted a dedicated section for the first time ever.
“Playing on the 10th year, we have a section called The Ten Commandments,” says Osian’s Cinefan’s joint festival director, Indu Shrikent. The films in this section will explore the manner and evolution of cinema over the past 10 years, while the Springboard section will screen films from earlier editions of the festival, selected by the festival’s founder director Aruna Vasudev.
Then, there are seven regular competition sections in categories such as Asian and Arab, N-Tolerance (films on moral, social and political issues), Indian and First Features, which will be judged by an international panel of directors, producers and critics among others that includes Kais al Zubaidi (Palestine), Nagesh Kukunoor (India) and Saeed Ebrahimifar (Iran).
While the selectors have said that they are not very impressed by the quality of the new Indian films being shown, there are some movies from Pakistan (especially after the astounding success of Khuda Ke Liye) to watch out for, such as Ramchand Pakistani and Victoria’s Stamp.
In conversation
There are several workshops and discussions peppered throughout the festival, such as the Talent Campus (for young film-makers); Literature and Cinema (on screenwriting, featuring a lecture by Paul ‘Taxi Driver’ Schrader); The Archive Today; etc.
A restored version of the first Assamese film released Joymoti (1951) will also be screened at the festival.
Getting in
Tickets for the festival cost Rs20 per movie, but there are some, which have free entry. The tickets will be available at the venue and at Alliance Française, Lodhi Road, from 10 July onwards. Once the festival starts, tickets may be bought two days in advance. This year, following the stipulations of the information and broadcasting ministry, OCFF has mandated a one-time registration fee of up to Rs50 for the general public.
What not to miss
Sparrow(Man Jeuk)
Sparrow
On 11 July, 7.30pm; 12 July, 9.30am
Director: Johnny To (Hong Kong)