I was honoured to head the NETPAC jury at the 15th Asian Film Festival of Vesoul in France from February 10-17, 2009. The highly enjoyable train ride from Paris to Vesoul took a little over three hours. After a relaxed lunch meeting with my two other jury colleagues Cuneyt Cebenoyan from Turkey and Marie-Claire Quiquemelle from France, we headed straight into the jury screenings. The opening of the festival had taken place a day earlier, on February 10, with the film Songs from the Southern Seas (Chants Des Mers Du Sud / Pesni Juzhnykh Morej) by Marat Sarulu from Kyrghystan/France.

Vesoul is beautiful town with white-capped peaks, and it snowed quite regularly during our week-long stay. The NETPAC jury was assigned to
see nine Asian features. All the screenings took place in a new multiplex with five screens. The first film we saw was Gulabi Talkies from India. Directed by Girish Kasaravalli, the film deals with an over-the -hill but skillful and ironically childless, midwife, on a fishing island off the coat of Karnatka. Her real passion is watching movies and all her dreams seem to come true when she gets a colour TV. Le Mirage (Tianmu), directed by Zhou Hongbo from China was a very ordinary film about human relations and seclusion. Director Noh Young-seok's Daytime Drinking (Not Sool) was a comical travelogue
about a young man on the road. Indonesian entry 3 Wishes, 3 Loves (Pesantren), directed by Nurman Hakim, dealt with a challenging subject. The plot concerned three friends facing a moral dilemma in an Islamic seminary. The film 100 from Philippines, directed by Chris Martinez was a slickly made film following a terminally ill heroine who must complete her hundred chores in a month, and during this period, for the first time, she becomes close to her mother. A Gift For Stalin (Podarak Stalinu), directed by Roustem Abdrachev from Kazhakstan was a charming yet tragic story of children and elders. The film suggests hope even when the going gets rough and messy.

Prasanna Vithange's Flowers in the Sky (Akasa Kusum) from Sri Lanka is a beautiful film about a retired film actress whose forgotten past comes back with the dark secret of a grown up daughter who is now pregnant and dying of AIDS. Despite the daughter's eventual death, the film ends with the promise of a new life, as the actress holds her baby granddaughter in her trembling arms. The film is impressively directed, with fine performances.

The NETPAC Award Winner, Dawn of the World (L'aube du monde), an Iraq-France co-production, directed with much conviction by Abbas Fahdel, was a very moving experience. The entire film which runs for 95 minutes, has been shot on location, and deals with conflict and its damage on people. The location is the Mesopotamian marshes on the delta of two rivers in South of Iraq. Two cousins grow up in the village and get married at a young age. However before the marriage is consumated, the bridegroom leaves for the battlefield where he is killed.  Before dying, he takes a promise from his friend that the friend will return to his village and see his wife. The friend takes over from there and returns to the village where he meets the bride, now a widow ... The jury was unanimous that the film portrayed the human sentiments under war with absolute courage and determination. Director Abbas Fahdel works with competence on a subject which is both difficult and distant from box office-driven formulae.

Vesoul also paid tribute to Iranian film maker Mohsen Makhmalbaf and his two daughters, Samira and Hana .The entire family was there with a body of remarkable film work including Salaam Cinema, Silence (Sekout), Kandahar, Two Legged Horse (Abse Du- Pa) and Joy of Madness.

The NETPAC Certificate was awarded to Abbas Fahdel in an impressive Closing Ceremony. The festival concluded with Tokyo Sonata, a beautiful
film from Japan dealing with the uncertainties of an urban family in the financial crunch. The son finally triumphs with a piano performance. The film is directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa with passion and love.

It was now time to say goodbye. As I boarded the train for Paris , I was not parting with Vesoul. It would remain with me because of the love, courtesy and unprecedented hospitality of Jean-Marc Therouanne, his wife Martine, and the entire staff of the film festival.