NEW WAVE: A still from Herbert and (below) Ontorjatra

The first week of January in New Delhi used to have a whiff of excitement to it. Every other year, enthusiastic queues would form in front of cinema halls early in the morning, with people in overcoats and mufflers bracing themselves against the cold winter breeze. But nobody minded, for it was festival time, and normally-sedate Delhi was in a party mood.

A similar feeling of euphoria seems to have besieged the capital this rainy season. It’s been two years since the information and broadcasting ministry’s Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF) moved its international carnival of films, held every alternative year in Delhi, permanently to Goa. But the festival that has slowly taken over as one of India’s main cinema fetes is suddenly bringing back a long-lost feeling of excitement to Delhi.

The 10-day Osian Cinefan ? with a package of 120 films ? opened in Delhi on July 14. And directors of small or medium-budget films believe that it has given them a much-needed platform for showcasing their works. A whole host of new cinema ? some of which may never see a commercial release ? is being screened at the festival. Among the films that cine buffs are looking forward to are Herbert, Suman Mukhopadhyay’s film on the changing face of Calcutta, Parzania, a film by US-based film maker Rahul Dholakia on a Parsi family caught in the 2002 Gujarat violence, and Calcutta Unabashed, Subroto Sen’s cinematic take on Bibar. There is Bas Ek Pal by Onir, who made a mark last year with his film, My Brother, Nikhil and then there is Ashok Vishwanathan’s new film, Sounds of Silence.

“The festival is really becoming a platform for young film makers,” agrees Ashok Vishwanathan, whose film juxtaposes two stories ? the tale of a director who seeks to deal with issues such as patriarchy, and the story that he is working on for his own big canvas. “Cinefan is indeed making rapid strides,” says the Calcutta-based film maker.

And that’s saying a lot, for when the festival first opened eight years ago, it was a modest little effort with some 27 films. “We wanted to show Asian films to Indian audiences. But since then, the festival has grown exponentially,” says Aruna Vasudev, the founder-director of Cinefan.

The festival was an offshoot of the magazine Cinemaya, Vasudev’s brain-child which sought to focus on the cinema of Asia. “We knew Hollywood, and we knew western European cinema. But barring a Kurosawa or a Satyajit Ray, few knew Asian cinema as a phenomenon,” stresses Latika Padgaonkar, who has been associated with both the magazine and the festival from the very beginning. The magazine wrote about Asian cinema, and then felt the need to have some of those films screened in India. And that marked the birth of Cinefan.

When the first festival was held in Delhi in a small hall, the international film festival was a mammoth extravaganza held at the Siri Fort. Padganokar points out that their festival was a labour of love that survived on “some goodwill here and some goodwill there.” Finances were always a problem ? though the Delhi government did pitch in, and there was a grant from UNESCO as well. Then, two years ago, Neville Tuli of Osian, a centre that promotes and sells art, joined hands with Cinemaya. The festival now runs on an expenditure of a few crores of rupees, drawn mostly from Osian’s coffers.

In these eight years Osian Cinefan seems to have taken over from the government-run festival. This year’s fare is being held at the sprawling Siri Fort auditorium. And there are several sections ?Asian Competition, Asian Frescoes, Arabesque, Cross-cultural Encounters, Indian Competition, to name some ? and quite a few first screenings and debut films. Ten films ? eight from India and one each from Indonesia and Saudi Arabia ? will have their world premieres at the festival.

Actor Naseeruddin Shah’s first directorial venture, What If ? the story of four people caught in a single event ? is one of the star attractions of the festival. Ramachandra P. N.’s The Cleansing Rites, a film on the death of a feudal system, is India’s first film in the Tulu language of south Karnataka. Then there is Anjan Dutt’s The Bong Connection, a film that looks at the Bengali diaspora.

“We are talking about some excellent cinema here. And we have some 300 delegates from India and across the world ? directors, actors, producers, distributors and the media,” says Padgaonkar. Seminars are being held and special tributes have been organised to director Ritwik Ghatak, the New Theatre and film maker Stanley Kwan of Hong Kong. There is also a special section of films on Buddhism, and seminars and discussions.

The festival, clearly, is serious about its cinema. “I suppose we began work on this festival soon after the last one got over,” says Vasudev. And she is not joking, because, a few months after the festival wound up in Delhi last year, a Cinefan representative called on Subroto Sen in Calcutta while he was shooting Bibar. “He wanted to discuss the film’s participation at the Osian Cinefan. I told him that we were still working on the film,” says Sen.

Once the film was done, the representative was back. And Sen ? who has willingly kept away from the national film festival for three years ? was equally enthusiastic about having his film screened at the 2006 Osian Cinefan festival. “They are very serious about procuring films. And that’s a change from all the lobbying that takes place at the national film festival,” says Sen.

But the climate of film festivals in the country is changing. In Goa, there is talk of the state government taking control of the government-run festival instead of the DFF. And though Vasudev and Padgaonkar stress that they are in no competition with the government-run festivals, comparisons are already being made. Sen, for one, is convinced that the Osian Cinefan festival and the Kerala film festival in Thiruvanthapuram are the best platforms for independent directors today.

Not surprisingly, Sen is making plans to be in Delhi for the festival. And Ashok Vishwanthan’s bags are packed, too. Rain-lashed Delhi beckons.