AN ARAB FEAST AT OSIAN FESTIVAL

Hindu, India
July 18 2007

New Delhi, July 18 (PTI): Arab films dealing with a variety of themes
from war to everyday stories of ordinary men and women and satires
and critiques to stylish thrillers will be an integral part of the
9th Osian Cinefan Festival here beginning July 20.

"Arab films have proved to be inventive, imaginative and bold; some
are personal statements, others social comments, questioning and
chronicling tradition, everyday life, war, gender, fundamentalism
and much else," says Neville Tuli, chairman of Osian’s Connoisseurs
of Art, organisers of the annual fete.

Iran-Azerbaijan co-production "Raami" by Iranian director Babak
Shirinsefat will be the opening film of the fest, dedicated to Asian
and Arab cinema, which will continue till July 29.

The film tells the story of a middle-aged Azerbaijani folk music
composer who has spent a decade in a war refugee camp in Sabirabad
and then goes looking for his Armenian wife and child 10 years after
the Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Around 140 films from more than 35 countries are to be screened during
the festival.

The competition section which was till last year limited to films
from Asia now broadens its base to include films from the Arab world.

Two films from Tunisia — "Tender is the Wolf" and "Making Of" —
and one from Lebanon — "Falafel" – along with eight other works from
Asia are in the fray for the top award.

"Falafel", by young Lebanese director Michel Kammoun, is a stylish yet
frightening quest through Beirut’s nocturnal streets which explores
post-civil war emptiness surrounding its protagonist Toufic, who
finds having a normal life is a luxury beyond his reach.

"Making Of" by Nouri Bouzid is about Batha, a dancer who is prepared
for a suicide bombing mission after 9/11.

"Tender is the Wolf" by Jilani Saadi is set against the cold urban
world of poverty and violence and tackles questions about the nature
of human relationships in the present Arabic-Muslim society.

A competition for first feature films has also been introduced to give
a fair deal to newcomers. Among the films selected for this section
are "She and He" (Tunisia) and "Crossing the Dust" (Iraq-Kurdistan).

Rachid Bouchareb’s war epic, "Days of Glory", one of the films
nominated for the Foreign Language Oscar this year, will also be
shown. A powerful post-colonial narrative of the little-known story of
North African troops which fought in General de Gaulle’s army alongside
American and British allies to liberate France during World Word II,
the film won the Best Actor Award for the Ensemble of Actors at Cannes
in 2006.

Other Arab films to be screened at the festival include — Saudi
Arabian director Abdullah Al-Muheisen’s "Shadows of Silence", "WWW:
What a Wonderful World" by Fouzi Bensaidi (Morocco), "Cut and Paste"
by Hala Khalil (Egypt), "The Yacoubian Building" by Marwan Hamed and
"None But That".

The India-Japan Friendship Year (2007) sees a multi- pronged focus
on Japan that includes films, exhibitions and lectures. Contemporary
Japanese cinema, samurai films and a tribute to Kenji Mizoguchi,
known for championing the cause of women, are all part of this focus.