Indian filmmaker Mani Kaul has been appointed director general of Osian’s Cinefan Film Festival,which is scheduled to hold its 11th edition in New Delhi from July 17-26.

Kaul’s films have been screened at film festivals around the world and he has also been a member of several international film festival juries including Berlin.

He will be assisted in his new role by Cinefan joint directors Indu Shrikent and Latika Padgaonkar. Kaul was previously creative director and advisor at Osian’s Connoisseurs of Art, the arts organisation and auction house that runs the Cinefan film festival.

“Irrespective of its independent or mainstream origins, we will strive for a dispassionate portrayal of new and bold cinema,” said Kaul. “Our programme will range from uncompromising experimentation in films, to an archival kind of cross reference between cinemas of the world, to an articulation of an emerging, thinking NewStream cinema in India.”

Cinefan focuses on contemporary Indian, Asian and Arab cinema and will feature 15 films from these regions in its main competition section.

The festival will also feature two sections entitled InDialogue and NewStream Cinema, which will present a series of talks and Q&As between directors, actors and technicians.

The festival’s deadline for submission of entries is May 29, 2009.