Osian’s will be conferring the lifetime achievement award on Mrinal Sen.

Sen has directed  some of the classics of Indian cinema like Neel Akasher Neechey, Akash Kusum, Padatik and Mrigayaa to name a few.

One of India’s most acclaimed filmmakers and a pioneer of the alternative cinema movement, Sen, in a prolific career spanning almost five decades, has directed feature films, short films and  documentaries with various issues.

Recipient of the Padma Bhushan and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest distinction given to an Indian filmmaker by the Government of India, Sen has also been honoured with awards at numerous international film festivals in India and abroad.

Again, Osian’s is also presenting the Aruna Vasudev Lifetime Achievement Award for Writing on Cinema to Jose F Lacaba, who is a poet, journalist, editor, translator, and screenwriter and is a bilingual writer who writes in both English and Filipino.

Latika Padgaonkar, joint festival director, Osian’s Cinefan says, “We are delighted to honour two eminent personalities from the world of cinema. Both have contributed in a seminal way to the seventh art and both have placed on their works an individual and creative stamp.”

These awards will be presented at the 10th Anniversary of the Osian’s Film Festival to be held in New Delhi from July
10-20, 2008.  This year Osian’s-Cinefan has announced over Rs 1 Crore in prize money for its Competition Sections and Lifetime Achievement Awards. The winners of the Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented Rs 8 lakh each.