Mutual assurance

CINEMA: Better managed than ever before, Delhi's Osian-Cinefan festival is an engaging example of art and cinema in mutual support.

It's tough to know where to begin and how to spread yourself out if you're a journalist attempting a broad-based coverage of the Osian-Cinefan Festival of Asian Cinema in Delhi.

Apart from the many screenings (120 films spread over four auditoria and 10 days), there are daily press conferences, discussions and talent workshops featuring delegates from around the world.

Elsewhere in the city, there is an Art, Book, Cinema auction; an international media roundtable on topics like "Does film criticism matter?" and "Film promotion"; and sundry other events that one often gets to hear about just minutes before they begin.

And the Siri Fort Complex has been transformed into a museum of cinematic memorabilia, with exhibitions titled Kurosawa's Korner, Hitchcock's Hut and Bachchan's Bungalow, and these alone can keep the movie buff rivetted for hours.

Yes, it can be frustrating for a journalist. Even if you spend the whole day at the festival and limit yourself to just three films a day (let's say that takes up six hours), how to keep track of all the other events?

For the film buff, however, it's exhilarating to see what Cinefan has metamorphosed into over the years. A festival that began eight years ago with Aruna Vasudev bringing together 20 movies from select Asian countries has grown to become arguably the most professionally managed film event on its scale in India.

For all the little things Cinefan gets wrong every year (handling the enormous crowds that show up for high-profile screenings is still a problem), it continues to improve with each edition. It learns from past mistakes and rectifies them. And for many, it's now the seminal congregational event for Asian cinema.

Directors from countries with modest moviemaking industries are invariably wide-eyed; it's common to hear things like "I never imagined my film would be seen by so many people in such a large hall!" in their introductory speeches. But delegates with greater experience are equally impressed.

"This is such a wonderful opportunity for those of us who don't usually get to see "" or hear about "" films from so many Asian countries," exclaims French author and scriptwriter Jean-Claude Carriere, who has worked with directors around the world, from Luis Bunuel to Milos Forman.

"In other places, big cinemas are being replaced by smaller halls, so it's very heartening to see the audience response here," says Tunisian director Selma Baccar.

"I come to this festival and I'm reassured that the filmmaking culture in the region is vibrant and alive": this from Hong Kong director Stanley Kwan, a retrospective of whose films is being screened at this year's event.

"One form of art must sustain another," Osian's Neville Tuli often says. His thesis is being implemented, and implemented very well, through the auctions that provide much of the financial support for Cinefan. Tuli's next project is to revamp the recently acquired Minerva cinema in Mumbai into The Osianama, a unique integrated arts and film institution. "We hope," he says, "that at this time next year the Osian-Cinefan will be simultaneously functioning in Delhi and Mumbai."

Once that happens, the sky's the limit for one of Asia's most dynamic and fastest growing film festivals.