Connoisseur’s Cut

Aruna Vasudev’s vision of cinema has always been drastically different from the conveyor-belt style films Bollywood churns out. Little wonder then that the woman who was one of the founding members of the hugely popular Cinefan Film Festival in the Capital is now back with yet another innovative festival,this time under the aegis of Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC),a body she heads,and which is now celebrating its 20th year. The three-day film festival,Imaging Asia,will have a conference and also showcase 31 NETPAC award-winning films. It is scheduled to take off from August 19. Comparisons with Osian’s Cinefan,which Vasudev quit in 2007,are likely to crop up,but she is clear that her event is not intended to be competition. “It is completely different from Cinefan. This is primarily a conference,enlivened with a film festival,exhibitions and performances. So far there are no plans to make it an annual event,” says Vasudev firmly.

In fact,there’s more to the festival than just films. The Asian Heritage Foundation will introduce the traditional narrative pictorial forms from India that far preceded celluloid imagery. Even before the 16 mm films came along,India had a rich story-telling tradition that included devices like shadow puppets and bioscope/peep-box shows. So there will be narrative scrolls from Bengal,Jharkhand and Rajasthan,shadow puppets from Andhra Pradesh and Kerala and even the mobile shrine from Rajasthan. Meanwhile,Hunan puppet and shadow art troupe of China would regale the audience at Kamani auditorium with their famous shadow plays. “ We want people to engage with cinema and those producing it. So to make it more than just conferences,there will be a line-up of cutting-edge films and exhibitions,” says Vasudev,who will also be unveiling her brush works in an exhibition titled Eastern Strokes along with other artists including Yuriko Lochan and Blanca Dixit Peralta. On display will be about 25 works on rice paper and ink,exploring the themes of nature and spirituality.

There is an interesting line up of films dating back to 1996 and till the present day,some even on 35 mm. The films are curated by Latika Padgaonkar,part of the Managing Committee of Imaging Asia. The opening film Tulpan from Kazakhstan directed by Sergei Dvortsevoy narrows down on a group of of nomadic shepherds in the poverty-stricken Betpak Dala region of southern Kazakhstan. While Sri Lankan film August Sun by Prasanna Vithanage weaves the narratives of three people struggling to hold on to their hopes and dreams in the strife torn nation,from the Indian stable,there are Aparna Sen’s Mr & Mrs Iyer and Rituparno Ghosh’s quiet drama of a middle aged woman living in a mansion titled The Lady of the House . “We have tried to include a representative spread from various countries. So you have realist films from West Asian countries like Palestine,Iraq and Lebanon,along with experimental films from Thailand and Philippines,” said Padgaonkar. The festival will revolve around the conference that will see prominent directors,film historians,authors and actors rub shoulders with each other. Among those expected to be present are acclaimed Chinese film-maker Xie Fei,noted Malayalam filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan,sociologist Dipankar Gupta,Malaysian author and academic Khoo Gaik Cheng among others.

The event will be spread out over seven venues —the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts,Instituto Cervantes,Alliance Française de Delhi,India International Centre ,India Habitat Centre,Kamani Auditorium and Hotel Janpath.

The festival is from August 19-22.
For details contact 011 24626369