MUMBAI: The Mumbai premiere of the 9th Osian’s-Cinefan Film Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema on 8 June 2007 marks Osian’s diversification into the fields of film financing and production.

The company’s arts and film complex – The Osianama (Formerly Minerva Cinema) will be inaugurated next year, it is learnt.

Apart from a sneak peek at some of the important films to be shown at the film festival, visitors will also be treated to unique exhibitions, conferences, debates and a musical extravaganza.

Six of the 120 films to be shown at the 9th OCFF will be open to public viewing at the NCPA, including one show for the student fraternity of Maharashtra. As part of the focus on Japanese cinema, there will be homage paid to the work of the great Japanese filmmaker Mizoguchi Kenji. Alongside the selection of films two day-long exhibitions from the Osian’s Archive Collection are dedicated to the photographs surrounding the events of 1857 with a focus on Felice Beato’s pioneering work and a sumptuous display of Japanese poster art of World Cinema.

The entire NCPA complex will showcase the best from the Osian’s Art and Film Archive Collection, turning the space itself into an exhibition. Osian’s chairman Neville Tuli says, “Film posters and memorabilia, great modern Indian art, magic memorabilia, crafts, among many more artworks, from all over the world will together create a small sense of the unique artistic mela which will occupy each day at The Osianama, a few months from now.”