- A grand success in the history of ASIAN FESTIVALS IN INDIA
- PLATFORM TO BRING
BACK INDIA’S CULTURAL HERITAGE
The first Auction of Antiquities in India in the 21st century was presented by Osian’s on Thursday, 29 October at the Taj Mahal Hotel in New Delhi . This Auction of Indian & Asian Antiquities, Books, Modern & Contemporary Art was held as part of the 11th Osian’s Cinefan Film Festival .
This auction is a fundamental move to not only help bring back Indian heritage back into the country but also to make the treasures of our past civilizations part and parcel of everyday contemporary living so that they can now be displayed with pride in Indian homes and bought and sold in the open within India.
The highlights in the Auction included many rare Indian and Persian Miniatures to 10th Century sculpture of Durga from Java, along with a rare book copy of Daniells aquatints. Masterpieces of Modern and Contemporary Art by Husain, Souza, Paniker, Biren De, Bakre, Broota, Bhupen Khakhar complete this milestone auction. This auction was made up from major collections held internationally in London which allows an unique opportunity for the Indian in India to compete with the International Collector in an India based auction..
On the occasion Neville Tuli, Chairman - Osian’s said : “For the past thirty years, since the times of The Emergency, our artistic and cultural treasures have slowly and constantly left India, smuggled out as part of one of the largest black economies in the world. This black economy and its negative mindset has resulted and thereafter been sustained due to a strange mix of legal ambiguity, out-dated bureaucratic processes for antiquity registration, and a poor dialogue between the private and public sectors regarding the need to build cultural infrastructure together. For fifteen years I have helped build the base and awareness to tackle this malaise. Now Osian’s will kick-start a process to preserve and strengthen this heritage”
The Action yielded about Rs. 9 crores
YOUNG ONES AMAZE ELDERS WITH THEIR QUESTIONS AT SPECIAL SHOWS AT OSIAN’S CINEFAN FILM FESTIVAL
Even as thousands of young ones clapped and cheered as they went into the fantasy world of cinema in special morning shows for children at the Eleventh Osian’s Cinefan Film Festival, they admitted that the films had also taught them many things. At a time when contemporary Indian and western cinema is full of violence and gore, children in the capital had their hands full with a special selection of films for them. This is the fourth year in a row that the OCFF has organized a special festival for children.
The children also interacted with the cast and crew of the two Indian films out of the three films shown, often leaving the adults flummoxed. The films shown were ‘Supermen of Malegaon’ by Faiza Ahmed Khan in two shows, ‘Harishchandra’s Factory’ (Paresh Mokashi) and the Indonesia film ‘The Rainbow Troops’ (Riri Riza).
‘Supermen of Malegaon ’ is an entertaining documentary about the making of the film ‘ Malegaon ka Superman’, while ‘Harishchandra’s Factory’ is a unique recreation of the making of the first indigenous Indian feature film, ‘Raja Harishchandra’ in 1913. The Indonesian feature film is about the spread of literacy in a remote region of that country.
NEWSTREAM FILMS REFLECT REALISM AND LIFE-LIKE SITUATIONS
Realism is an integral aspect of all the films shown and discussed in the New Stream sessions at the 11 Osian’s Cinefan Film Festival, and this is clearly the reason for placing them in a new section which is part of the mainstream and yet different.
The characterization of Abhay Deol in ‘Dev D’ and ‘Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye’ or Deepika Padukone in ‘Love Aaj Kal’ reflected this realism.
NEW STREAM CINEMA
This was a new introduction in the Festival, where films made in the main stream genre but still standing out for their realism were screened.
New Stream Cinema Section with six prominent Hindi films took forward the concept of OLE, showcasing and exploring exhaustively films that have dared to redefine mainstream cinema. Filmmakers and those associated with the films interacted with the audiences via Q&A sessions, lectures, panel discussions and seminars to ensure connectedness and a deeper understanding of each film screened. There was an in depth analysis and scrutiny of the selected films.
These films were: ‘Amir’ (Raj Kumar Gupta), ‘Dev D’ (Anurag Kashyap), ‘Kaminey’ (Vishal Bhardwaj), ‘Love Aaj Kal’ (Imtiaz Ali), ‘Luck by Chance’ (Zoya Akhtar), and ‘Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!’ (Dibakar Banerjee).
AWARDS AND CITATIONS OF THE 11TH OSIAN’S CINEFAN FILM FESTIVAL
CONNOISSEURS JURY
to ‘The Long Night’ by Hatem Mohammed of Syria
SPECIAL MENTION
To ‘Khargosh’ directed by Paresh Kamdar of India
SPECIAL JURY AWARD
‘The Wailing Wall’ by Elyse Baccar of Tunisia
BEST ACTOR
Ali Reza Aghakhani in ‘Before the Burial’ by Behnam Behzadi of Iran
BEST ACTRESS
Negar Jhaverian in ‘Before the Burial’ by Behnam Behzadi of Iran
BEST SHORT FILM AWARD
to ‘The First Film’ by Panah Panahi of Iran
Mesmerizing in its freedom and immediacy and with a carefully crafted dramatic structure, The First Film by Panah Panahi is a burst of passionate film making that is as comic as it is frightening in its defiance of a state’s censorship regime.
SPECIAL MENTION (Shorts)
to ‘Vitthal’ by Vinoo Choliparambil of India
A skilled narrative that intensely reveals the trauma of a young boy, with sensitivity and excellent cinematography. A powerful and emotional film, Vitthal remains in the mind long after the film is over.
NETPAC-FIPRESCI AWARD
to ‘The Long Night’ by Hatem Mohammed of Syria
For the Minute and sensitive observations of the way political events affect personal lives
to ‘Khargosh’ directed by Paresh Kamdar of India
for combining the real and the imaginary world and its lyrical beauty of images
AUDIENCE AWARD
to ‘Khargosh’ directed by Paresh Kamdar of India.
THUS INDIAN FILM GOT LARGEST NUMBER OF AWARDS
The awards were presented by the founder of the Festival, renowned film critic Aruna Vasudev, filmmaker M S Sathyu, actress Moushmi Chatterjee and actor Rahul Bose, apart from the jury members.
The renowned group ‘Euphoria’ led by Palash Sen gave a scintillating performance, which included a special song composed by them relating to global warning and climate change.
The closing film was the film ‘Waltz with Bashir’ by Ari Folman which is an Israel-Germany-France co-production. The award-winning ‘The Long Night’, ‘The Wailing Wall’, ‘Khargosh’ and ‘Before the Burial’ were also screened.
As in previous years, the Festival was organised by Osian’s Connoisseurs of Art in association with the Government of the NCT of Delhi. The festival was held at the Siri Fort Complex and Alliance Francaise in New Delhi, guided by Osian’s founder and Chairman Neville Tuli, Director General Mani Kaul, and Festival Director Indu Shrikent.
Osian’s Director-General Mani Kaul said the festival had created new benchmarks. For the first time since its inception, the Festival concentrated more on Indian cinema this year.
Clearly, it is undeniable that no other festival anywhere in the world has done so much to popularise Asian cinema as Osian’s-Cinefan and show how Asian and Indian cinema have emerged as the most vibrant creative force for creating cultural affinity and identity
The Festival had been inaugurated on 24 October by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and the opening film was ‘Hooked’, a France-Romanian co-production by Adrian Sitaru.
With about 100 features and shorts from about 25 countries including India, the Festival will be a reflective insight into the multitudes of cultures and ideas with a focus on India. For the first time, India was in the spotlight at the Festival.
The auction on 29 October coinciding with the festival brought to the discerning collector a striking range of Indian and Asian antiquities. The auction netted just over Rs 9 crore.
Osian’s Connoisseurs of Art is the only private sector institution that is regularly organizing film festivals and film studies since it considers cinema to be an art form. The education format has to change to include media like cinema for teaching purposes.
OLE will be implemented in three steps: OLE, Osianama which is under construction in Mumbai, and a University, which will enable the students to interact with the greatest minds in the field of cinema. Scholarships will also be offered.
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