Osian’s Film House announces the return, after a sabbatical of two years, of the Osian’s-Cinefan Festival of Indian, Asian and Arab Cinema.
DATE/LOCATION : The 12th OCFF will be held in New Delhi between the July 27 and August 5 2012 with the Siri Fort complex serving as its main venue as in the past few years.
The fest will showcase the best of Asian, Arab and Indian Cinema, all within an all-embracing framework which focuses on freedom of creative expression and thought. First Features and Short films will be given special platforms. The art of creating Animation films will be intensively discussed and the ingenuous works will be presented for both the young and old. The new ‘7.4’ section on Environment films will be a precursor of a summit on natural and man-made heritage, which by 2013 will translate into a new film festival dedicated to this subject.
– Osian’s-Cinefan will this year salute the memory of Mani Kaul. Mani had been Creative Director at Osian’s since 2006 and was the Director General of OCFF 11 held in 2009. To mark the legacy of one of the most remarkable filmmakers of World Cinema, Cinefan will institute the Annual Mani Kaul Memorial Lecture. OCFF 12 will also hold a number of events that will celebrate not only his cinema but also his formidable contributions to music, literature and painting.
– Further, as part of the Festival a new annual CINEFAN FILM MEMORABILIA AUCTION will be held focusing on the finest and rarest artifacts and publicity material from Hollywood and World Cinema, to be held on 31 July at The Osianama.
– Also as part of the festival related events a major three-day Summit on ‘Delhi: The Next Film City’ will be organized. This summit is being held given the rapid developing interest of filming in Delhi. It is the right time to review the reasons underlying this rise of Delhi as a possible film city in all facets and to discuss the way ahead so as to consolidate the gains made and expand the possibilities of cinema in the city.
OCFF 12 PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS
FILM SECTIONS
In Competition:
1. Asian and Arab
2. Indian
3. First Features
4. Short Fictions
Out of Competition:
5. Frescoes – New films from Asian and Arab countries that showcase the richness and diversity of their cinemas
6. Short Fiction – A section consisting of packages of short films from all over the world and a competition for Asian and Arab shorts
7. The Freedom Of Creative Expression – A section dedicated to showing landmark films in cinema history that had at one time or the other been banned by authorities.
8. Sex & Religion in India: Silk Smitha, Sex Gurus and Indian Cinema – this section will screen films dealing with India’s version of the sexual revolution through the decades
9. Filmcraft: The Art of the Animation Film – This year Cinefan will begin its engagement with the history and contemporary practices of the animation film, a cinematic art that promises to become a major force in times to come
10. Launching of 7.4 – a Film Festival dedicated to films made about manmade and natural heritage along with short films and documentary cinema
11. Tributes & Retrospectives
More Than Films:
12. Infrastructure Building for Minds and Markets – IBM² Events – As usual Osian’s-Cinefan will organize talks, seminars, discussion panels, Q&As pertaining to the film program at the festival drawing in the best minds in the field from all over India and the world
13. The Osian’s archives the biggest of its kind in the world will mount a multimedia exhibition about the freedom of expression in all registers of human life – the political, the artistic, the magical and the spiritual.
14. Festival Summit: Delhi As India’s Next Cinema City – A three day summit will be organized that will bring together the governments of India and Delhi NCR, various cultural agencies, corporate organizations and the film industry to discuss the way forward towards making Delhi the next Film City of India
15. Cinefan @Osianama-Blue Frog – Daily events through the duration of the festival including Master classes, Panel discussions, film screenings and high-profile Q&As with festival guests. The evening will see festival guests converge at the site to converse and network at the ‘Cinefan Adda’. Especially curated musical and performance events will commence from 10 pm every night at the Blue Frog.
– Deepti DCunha is programming for the 12th Osian’s-Cinefan Film Festival, 2012. The festival is to be held in New Delhi, India from 27th July to 5th August.
– DEADLINE for submission is 10th June 2012.
– For more details, visit the official website here.
– You can also email at cinefan@osians.com or deepti.dcunha@gmail.com.
F.i.g.h.t C.l.u.b 
Wow! Since when has India stopped being an Asian country. Outsiders making a mistake is one thing, but Indians accepting it as if that’s the way it should be is simply lazy and irresponsible.