Osian's Cinefan Film Festival 2008 Awards

ASIAN AND ARAB COMPETITION
Best Film - Tokyo Sonata by Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Best Director - Nuri Bilge Ceylan for Three Monkeys
Best Actor - Ammor Hakkar in The Yellow House
Best Actress - Hiam Abbas and Rona Laipaz-Michael in Lemon Tree
Special Jury Award - Salt of This Sea by Annamarie Jacir

FIRST FEATURES AWARD
Confessional by Ruel Dahis Antipuesto and Jerrold Viacrucis Tarog

INDIAN COMPETITION
Best Film - Gulabi Talkies by Girish Kasaravalli
Best Director - Remo D'Souza for A Story of the Red Hills
Best Actor - Rajat Kapur for The Prisoner and Govind Namdeo for Kabootar
Best Actress - Umashree for Gulabi Talkies

IN-TOLERANCE AWARD
Hidden Faces by Handan Ipekci

NETPAC AWARD
Bioscope by K.M. Madhusudhanan

FIPRESCI AWARD
Ramchand Pakistani by Mehreen Jabbar and Salt Of This Sea by Annemarie Jacir

AUDIENCE AWARD
The Band’s Visit by Eran Kolirin

(Official website)

Death of a Poet - Palash Kumar

Palash died in a car accident this weekend.

Were the following lines, penned by this poet, to prove prophetic?

And thus ended the cycle of pain and love,
He walked away with a baggage of longings --
--- which refuse to fade
She walked away with a look in her eyes,
And a prayer on her face

Listen to his story, his Guftagu, in a silent place - his world, his blog, a place where Palash lives on, in words etched for eternity. Read on

June 2008 Blog Mela

Bikerdude listens to an acapella performance

Purple Cow goes to Assam

Zigzackly knows exactly how to quit smoking

India Uncut has a storyline for Savita Bhabhi

Mudra Mehta reveals the difference between girls and guys

Idea-smithy reveals why she hated being a woman

Stupendous Man discovers the source of Ekta Kapoor's inspiration

Jabberwock is waiting for Ekta Kapoor ki Mahabharata

Twisted DNA is a guy who goes to the gynaecologist

Krish Ashok has not written a review of Dasavathaaram

That's all for now. The July 2008 Blog Mela returns early next month. But before leaving, do please vote for the best post in the June 2008 Blog Mela.

The best of June 2008 blog mela
	Bikerdude
	Purple Cow
	Zigzackly
	India Uncut
	Mudra Mehta
	Idea-smithy
	Stupendous Man
	Jabberwock
	Twisted DNA
	Krish Ashok
	None were that good
pollcode.com free polls

Check out previous Blog Melas
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008

Did you just come across a quirky, interesting or something-that-tugs-at-your-heartstrings blog? If yes, feel free to nominate it for the July Blog Mela being hosted here on August 2

Blog Mela Rules
- Posts must have been written by Indians or have an Indian angle
- Only posts published between 1-31 July, 2008 would be accepted
- If possible, please nominate individual posts, not the whole blog
- Feel free to nominate something you have written. Immodesty appreciated
- You can nominate as many blog posts as you like - provided you really like them
- Only nominations received before midnight on August 1 stand a chance to be featured on the Top 10 list
- No, you don't get any moolah for nominating or getting featured in the Blog Mela. That could change once I am a millionaire but for now you'll just have to bear with me
- Yours truly reserves the right to nominate good posts which you ignore

How to Nominate
- Leave a comment on this post OR better still - Mail me at toeknee (at) gmail (dot) com

God is not deaf. Even at night.

Tell that to my neighbours. For some weird reason, they persist in holding these all-night jagrans in the apartment complex.

A pundit with a not-so-pleasant voice leads the congregation (my neighbours and their friends and friends of friends) in singing bhajans praising God in all his divine glory.

They start at around 10 pm and go on till dawn. Which means I either have to drown out the cacophony with the television on at full blast or stuff cotton in my ears.

Unfortunately, neither is a solution because the night festivities are held next to my bedroom window. Plus, the microphone the pundit uses is a particularly effective one.

And why, you wonder, I don't complain. Well, I do grumble in the privacy of my home. But I don't say anything to my neighbours -- we have to maintain good relations, you see.

In Delhi, your average middle-class, well-educated Uncleji is quite capable of deflating car tyres or letting loose a volley of unprintables when the occasion calls for it.

God is not deaf. And for all I know, he sleeps at night too. When will my neighbours realise this?

I am the world's 669,642,941th richest person

It doesn't hurt to know I am in the top 11.16% of rich people in the world. But I wish I didn't have to pay so much income tax.

Want to know your rank?

Click here

Will it rain tonight? Ask the stone

The India Meteorological Department has some serious competition.
(Link via Reddit)

Soap bars in hotels are evil and dangerous

Next time you stay in a hotel, don't fuss over the bar of soap in the bathroom. Otherwise, you might end up with hundreds of little soap bars like this woman in a London hotel.

May 2008 Blog Mela

Mudra Mehta blows off steam publicly

Anand Ramachandran sees Lalit Modi grow

AB meets the writer of Kane and Abel

India Uncut is angry that NY Times got American Idol wrong

Great Bong gets Noida police to investigate Julius Caesar's murder

Ideasmith believes in the League of Ex-girlfriends

Twisted DNA thanks readers obsessed with saree below navel

Jabberwock watches some old Japanese movies

Falstaff is in London for the match between Man U and Chelsea

Krish Ashok has an unsolicited proposal for Hotel Saravana Bhavan

That's all for now. The June 2008 Blog Mela returns early next month. But before leaving, do please vote for the best post in the May 2008 Blog Mela.

The best of May 2008 Blog Mela
	Mudra Mehta
	Anand Ramachandran
	AB
	India Uncut
	Great Bong
	Ideasmith
	Twisted DNA
	Jabberwock
	Falstaff
	Krish Ashok
pollcode.com free polls

Check out previous Blog Melas
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008

Did you just come across a quirky, interesting or something-that-tugs-at-your-heartstrings blog? If yes, feel free to nominate it for the June Blog Mela being hosted here on July 2

Blog Mela Rules
- Posts must have been written by Indians or have an Indian angle
- Only posts published between 1-30 June, 2008 would be accepted
- If possible, please nominate individual posts, not the whole blog
- Feel free to nominate something you have written. Immodesty appreciated
- You can nominate as many blog posts as you like - provided you really like them
- Only nominations received before midnight on July 1 stand a chance to be featured on the Top 10 list
- No, you don't get any moolah for nominating or getting featured in the Blog Mela. That could change once I am a millionaire but for now you'll just have to bear with me
- Yours truly reserves the right to nominate good posts which you ignore

How to Nominate
- Leave a comment on this post OR better still - Mail me at toeknee (at) gmail (dot) com

Why blogging is good for you

All you guys who thought I was wasting time updating a stupid blog read by people who didn't have anything else to do - GO EAT DIRT.

I now have proof that blogging is good for you.