netpac@20

In the twenty years since it was founded, NETPAC has become established as the leading platform for the discovery and promotion of Asian cinema.

The genesis of NETPAC in 1990 had coincided with the renaissance of Asian cinema. NETPAC gave early expression to the need to acknowledge and recognise the emergence of new cinematic talent among Asians. It took under its wing a quarterly publication, Cinemaya,which provided a forum for mostly Asian critics, writers and scholars to document and evaluate Asian films and subsequently add them to the Asian cinema canon.



The NETPAC Award

NETPAC’s next major contribution was the institution of the NETPAC Award at international film festivals: as more Asian films were selected for exhibition for world audiences, a yardstick for quality was necessary that matched the competitive spirit fuelling the creative urges of young Asian filmmakers.

The NETPAC Award is now given at 28 international film festivals in 21 countries and 5 continents (Abu Dhabi, Antalya, Asiatica Filmediale, Bangkok, Barcelona, Berlin, Brisbane, Bursa, Chongqing, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Hawaii, Kerala, Jeonju, Jogjakarta, Karlovy Vary, Locarno, Cinemanila, Cinemalaya, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pusan, Puchon, Rotterdam, Singapore, Taipei and Vesoul).

Film Festivals, Conferences, Film Funds

A few other important activities have strengthened NETPAC’s efforts on behalf of Asian cinema. It has organized two international conferences on Asian Cinema Heritage and Culture (New Delhi 2007; Kuala Lumpur 2008). It has organized film festivals under its own banner (the Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival) and partnered AsiaPacificFilms.com for an internet Asia Pacific film festival. The Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) in collaboration with NETPAC has instituted an award - the APSA NETPAC Development Prize - worth US$5,000 to an emerging filmmaker from Asia. NETPAC played an instrumental role in the development of Asiapacificfilms.com which is an Asian Pacific digital film library streaming artistic and culturally significant films from Asia and the Pacific. The site was launched in October 2009 and can be accessed at www.asiapacificfilms.com

Publications

NETPAC has published/arranged publication of books on the national and intra-regional cinemas of Asia, namely:

“Being and Becoming the Cinemas of Asia” (ed: Aruna Vasudev, Latika Padgaonkar, Rashmi Doraiswamy)

“Mizoguchi and the Art of Japanese Cinema” by Tadao Sato; edited by Aruna Vasudev & Latika Padgaonkar

“Modernity and Nationality in Vietnamese Cinema” by Ngo Phuong Lan; edited by Aruna Vasudev & Philip Cheah

“An Incomplete Sentence – the Cinema of Dharmasena Pathiraja” (ed: Sivamohan Sumathy, Robert Crusz, Ashley Ratnavibhushana)

NETPAC in 2010

Having been a pioneering arbiter of taste and quality for Asian film for 20 years, we now confidently look forward to a new era of further achievement in the cause of Asian cinema.

In 2010, NETPAC marks 20 years of fruitful struggle with a lively series of programmes.

Books on the cinemas of the Philippines, China, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Turkey will be published. Classic articles culled from the pages of Cinemaya, the venerable Asian cinema quarterly, will be compiled and published as a book. Special celebratory events and programmes will be organized at international film festivals in Asia and Europe.

An international conference called NETPAC@20: The Culture and Politics of Asian Cinema will be held in New Delhi in August 2010. It will be the focal point of a series of events commemorating 20 years of NETPAC in New Delhi from 18 to 22 August, 2010, and will include screenings of Netpac award winning films, performances by traditional picture story-tellers from India, and from Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Thailand, plus an exhibition, all under the name “Imaging Asia: The Netpac Festival”.

NETPAC invites you to join in the celebration of Asian cinema.