Seventy films from 16 countries will be the highlight of the seven-day Sixth Asian film festival beginning on October 16. This is the first time that the festival will be held in Pune as well as Pimpri Chinchwad.
Organised by Ashay films in collaboration with Indira School of communication, the festival will be inaugurated by Tarita Mehendale, chairperson, Indira Group of Institutes at City Pride, Kothrud at 6.30 pm. The inaugural film for the festival is King Siri, a Sri lankan film that narrates the story of a poor boy's intellectual celebration. Virendra Chitrav, director, Asian film festival said, "The festival over seven days will include a number of films under the categories- Spectrum Asia, Indian vista, My Marathi, Off beat In honour, Tribute, Best of Asia, Retrospective and Filmmaker in focus. The last category will include Japanese director Keusuko Shinota's films. Added attractions of the event are interactions with a number of national as well as international film personalities under the category- Open forum." An important feature of the festival will be Zenith Asia Award that has been instituted for the past three years. The recipient of the award this year is noted film actor Naseeruddin Shah. The award will be given by Dr Mohan Agashe, convener of the festival, after the inaugural film. Also screened as an honour to Naseeruddin Shah would be films like Nishant, Akrosh and A Wednesday. The festival will conclude with a screening of the film Mahak by director Kranti Kanade. TIE
