‘Mother of Asian Cinema’ film scholar Aruna Vasudev passed away at the age of 88

Founder President of Asian Cinema Promotion Network, Aruna Vasudev during a press conference at Buddhist Film Festival ”The Inner Path” on April 18, 2012 in New Delhi. Photo Credit: Photo: S.Subramanium

Aruna Vasudev, a prominent Indian film scholar, critic, festival curator and painter, has died at the age of 88. Known by her powerful sobriquet ‘Mother of Asian Cinema’, Aruna was celebrated for her passionate evangelization of Indian and Asian cinema. He is credited with increasing interest and scholarship about Asian film culture around the world.

Remembered for her warm, affectionate smile and friendly manner, Aruna was a fixture in Delhi’s cultural circles as well as several national and international film festivals – an ardent ambassador of Asian cinema on the world stage. His honors include the Officier des Arts et des Lettres, France’s highest cultural award, and Fipresque India’s first Satyajit Roy Memorial Award. He inspired a generation of critics and cineastes to take film scholarship – and activism – seriously.

Aruna Vasudev was born in 1936 in British India. He studied photography in New York, then completed a doctorate in cinema and censorship at the Sorbonne in Paris. He was involved in the first decade of broadcast television in India. In 1988, he became its founding editor in the movieA pioneering film quarterly devoted to Asian cinema, printed from Delhi. Three years later, he founded NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema), an independent non-profit organization committed to promoting films across the continent.

An offshoot of Aruna’s proselytism was the creation of the Ocean’s Cinefan Festival, which showcased films from India, Asia and the Arab world. The festival, a touchstone of modern Delhi’s cultural life, closed in 2012.

Aruna was also a trustee of the Public Service Broadcasting Trust, which supports independent documentary film production in India. He also served on the jury of marquee festivals such as Cannes and Locarno.

As a writer, Aruna Vasudev has written several books on cinema and literature. his book Being & Becoming, Asian cinemaWritten with Latika Padgaonkar and Rashmi Doraiswamy and published in 2002, is considered a landmark.

Asian cinema “doesn’t need promotion which was our sole determination when we set out,” Aruna said. the hindu Time to discuss a book of collected writings from 2016 in the movie. “The history, culture, societies of countries and their movies are known and documented…” The quote ends without taking credit for this transformation.

Aruna took an interest in Japanese ink painting known as sumi-e late in life and also exhibited her work. In 2021, he was the subject of a documentary, Aruna Vasudev: Mother of Asian CinemaDirected by Supriya Suri.