The Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a five-day film festival and conference (Aug 18-22), Imaging Asia, which kicked off in Delhi today.

The event will screen 31 Asian films that have won the NETPAC Award for Best Asian Film at international film festivals around the world from 1994-2010. The opening film is Kazakhstan’s Tulpan (2008), directed by Sergei Dvortsevoy, while Lee Chang-dong’s Oasis (2002) will close the event.

Imaging Asia also includes a conference on The Culture and Politics of Asian Cinema, along with performances and exhibitions. Speakers include Directors Fortnight artistic director Frederic Boyer, Indian director Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Pusan director Kim Dong-ho.

The NETPAC award is now given at 28 international film festivals in 22 countries including Berlin, Rotterdam, Locarno and Pusan. The organisation also publishes books and magazines, hosts film festivals and launched a web-site, AsiaPacificFilms.com, which streams award-winning Asia Pacific films.

NETPAC is also collaborating with the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) to present the APSA NETPAC Development Prize worth $5,000.