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I attended the Kolkata International Film Festival this year titled A Carnival of World Cinema in the City of Joy. It was a productive and worthwhile experience. I was able to speak to numerous filmmakers, film critics, film festival organizers. They were deeply appreciative of the work of NETPAC in promoting Asian and Pacific cinemas. It was gratifying to hear their responses.

This fifth edition has expanded the categories of competition films to include all nations and territories. The festival’s purpose is also to introduce, honour, and promote the image, the country, the people and the cultural identity of Vietnam among its international friends.

First time in Poland. A nice feeling right from the start!

When I arrived, the sun was shining, which was unusual in Warsaw in this season (12th of October). Maks, the head of the hospitality team, had organized everything and Olga was waiting with a smile and the usual accreditation bag.

The Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema (FICA) wrapped up early this year (January 30-February 6, 2018) with two films sharing the NETPAC Jury Prize. China’s A TASTE OF RICE FLOWER, by Pengfei, was cited for “its delicate balance in portraying tradition-vs-modernization issues of migrant workers in a subtle mother/daughter storyline graced with distinct moods and rituals.”

The 14 th  Eurasia International Film Festival was organized from the 30th  June to 7th  July 2018 at Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan.

While deciding on the films worthy of our NETPAC award I decided to evaluate every film for its strength and weakness. So here are the views shared by the jury.

BIFAN began with a unique concept of being an Asian “genre film festival”. I was then assigned to BIFAN and had wonderful opportunities to meet directors and actors through numerous interviews. At that time, auteur films dominated film festivals, but to me, BIFAN's selection was way more refreshing and special as the festival focused on "genre films". They were unconventional in providing horror, thriller B movies and midnight screenings with new refreshing film language. It was even more exciting that BIFAN examined Asian genre against the cliches of foreign genre films.

NETPAC had chosen 11 films from the Asia and Pacific region for consideration for the NETPAC Award. The jury’s task was challenging as it had to pick the Best Film from a mix of films from many categories. In this selection five films were from the Main Competition, two from Out of Competition, one from Cinema of Sri Lanka, two from Free Thought Documentaries.

Cinema is perceived here almost like a religious phenomenon. Each film screening starts with the National Anthem. At the Opening and Closing ceremonies, the Anthem of Karnataka was also heard. In the state only more than 200 feature films are produced annually in Kannada language. It explains the complex system of competitions and awards of the festival itself.

Out of the 12 prizes given at the festival, seven were won by women directors - this, despite an overwhelming majority of the competition directors being male. Is this a reflection of the change brought about by the #metoo movement of the past year and the Hollywood industry pushing for gender equality?