Folk you Asians

'Imaging Asia' will screen and discuss films, folk culture and art from across the continent

The festival is being held to commemorate 20 years of The Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) and will feature 30 award-winning movies, traditional folk performances and art exhibitions in five venues across the city. Talking about the anniversary celebrations, writer Aruna Vasudev, president of Netpac, says, "This event will be enlivened with a film festival, exhibitions and performances. Movies and art share a lot of common elements which we thought would depict our journey of two decades."

Take your pick
Tulpan, directed by Sergei Dvortsevoy is a Kazakh film that has been praised for its poetic realism. This will be the inaugural movie on August 18. Other must-watch movies include Iranian director Asghar Farhadi's About Elly, a tale of relationship between a bunch of friends and families from a middle-class Iranian society. Nang Nak (1999), the winner of the Netpac award at Rotterdam in 2000 is hailed for its artistic integrity.

This Thai film explores a popular legend from a woman's perspective. "There was a certain criteria on which we selected the movies from various countries. These include films from 1997 onwards, which have not been shown in Delhi and are from different genres," says curator Latika Padgaonkar.

The festival will also screen four Indian moviesu00a0-- Aparna Sen's Mr and Mrs Iyer, The Servile by Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Kantataar (Barbed Wire) by Bappaditya Bandopadhyay and Rituparno Ghosh's Bariwali (The Lady of the House).

A complete package
The festival will also feature several conferences that will see prominent directors, film historians, authors and actors rub shoulders with each other. One can even look forward to narrative scrolls from Bengal, Jharkhand and Rajasthan, shadow puppets from Andhra Pradesh and Kerala and even the mobile shrine from Rajasthan. Meanwhile, the Hunan puppet and shadow art troupe of China would regale the audience 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.

CUT-AND-KEEP SCHEDULE
Wednesday, August 18
Instituto Cervantes, 6.30 pm: Tulpan, Dir. Sergei Dvortsevoy
India Habitat Centre, 7.45 pm: Tulpan, Dir. Sergei Dvortsevoy
Kamani Auditorium, 7 pm: Nang Thalung Shadow Puppet group of Suchat Subsin, Thailand

Thursday, August 19u00a0
Instituto Cervantes, 1.30 pm: Sanctuary, Malaysia, Dir. Ho Yu Hang
4 pm: Slingshot (Tirador), Dir. Brillante Mendoza
6.30 pm: Nang Nak, Dir. Nonzee Nimibutr
Alliance Fran aise de Delhi, 2 pm: Mr & Mrs Iyer, Dir. Aparna Sen
4.30 pm: Fishing Platform, Dir. Ravi Bharwani
6 pm: Discussion: Asian Cinema: European Perceptions
7 pm: Adrift Choi Voi, Dir. Bui Thac Chuyen
India Habitat Centre, 7 pm: So Close to Paradise, Biandan, Dir. Wang Xiaoshuai
9.15 pm: About Elly, Darbareye Elly, Dir. Asghar Farhadi
Kamani Auditorium, 7 pm: Hunan Puppet and Shadow Art troupe of China

Friday, August 20u00a0
Instituto Cervantes, 1.30 pm: Todo Todo, Dir. John Torres
4 pm: 12 Storeys (Shier Lou), Dir: Eric Khoo
6 pm: Discussion: Asian Films, Spanish Screens
6.30 pm: Platform (Zhantai), Dir: Kia Zhangke
Alliance Fran aise de Delhi, 2 pm: Agarian Utopia, (Sawan Baan Na), Dir: Uruphong Raksasad
4.30 pm: Birth of a Butterfly Tavalod-e Yek parvaneh, Dir. Mojtaba Raie
7 pm: Sanctuary, Dir. Ho Yuhang
India Habitat Centre, 7.30 pm: And the Moon Dances, Dir: Garin Nugroho
India International Centre,
10 am: Smell of Camphor, Fragrance of Jasmine Booye kafoor, Dir. Bahman Farmanara
12.30 pm: Divine Intervention, Yaadon ilaheyya, Dir. Elia Suleiman
2.30 pm: Dreams, Aahlam, Dir. Mohammad al Daradji
Kamani Auditorium, 7 pm: Aswara Wayang Kulit Group

Saturday, August 21u00a0
Instituto Cervantes, 10.30 am: Dreams, (Aahlam), Dir: Mohammad Al-Daradji
1.30 pm: So Close to Paradise (Biandan, guniang), Dir: Wang Xiaoshuai
4 pm: Oasis, Dir: Lee Chang Dong
6.30 pm: August Sun (Ira Madiyama), Dir: Orasanna Vithanage
Alliance Fran aise de Delhi, 11 am: Songs from the Southern Seas, Dir Abai Kulbai
2 pm: Barbed Wire Kantatar Dir Bappaditya, Bandopadhyay
4.30 pm: The Mourning Forest, Dir. Naomi Kawase
7 pm: The Servile, Vidheyan, Dir. Adoor Gopalakrishnan
India Habitat Centre, 7 pm: Slingshot, Dir. Brillante Mendoza
9.15 pm: The Lady of the House, Dir. Rituparno Ghosh
India International Centre, 7 pm: Mubarak Shadow Puppet Group

Sunday, August 22u00a0
Instituto Cervantes, 10.30 am: The Taste of Tea (Cha no aji), Dir: Katsuhito Ishii
1.30 pm: Under the Bombs (Sous les bombes), Dir: Philip Aractingi
4 pm: And the Moon Dances, (Bulan Tertusuk Ilalang), Dir: Garin Nugroho
6.30 pm: Swallow Strizh, Dir Abai Kulbai
Alliance Fran aise de Delhi, 11 am: Platform, Zhantai, Dir. Jia Zhangke
2 pm: Moscow, Dir. Whang Cheol-mean
4.30 pm: Nostalgia for the Countryside, Thuong nho, dong que, Dir. Dang Nat Minh
7 pm: Divine Intervention, Yaadon ilaheyya, Dir. Elia Suleiman
India Habitat Centre, 7 pm: The Mourning Forest, Dir. Naomi Kawase
9.15 pm: Oasis, Dir. Lee Chang-dong
India International Centre, 10 am: Under the Bombs, Sous les bombes, Dir. Philip Aractingi
12.30 pm: Somersault in a Coffin, Tabutta rovasata, Dir: Dervis Zaim
2.30 pm: About Elly, Darbareye Elly, Dir. Asghar Farhadi

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