The National Film Archive of India (NFAI) will provide all help to the States for the restoration and preservation of regional cinema, Prakash Magdum, Director, NFAI, has said. He was speaking to press persons after a stakeholder meeting for the National Film Heritage Mission here on Friday.
Unveiling the plan for the Rs.600-crore mission, he said that over the next five years, at least 1,000 films and 1,000 short films would be restored and digitised.
“The primary objective is to save each and every reel available now. We are looking at acquiring new material. We have to act fast as time is running out. We also appeal to film enthusiasts to help the NFAI trace and acquire rare film footages and other materials such as film posters, song booklets, photographs and other related material, so that they can be preserved for posterity,” Mr. Magdum said.
The film fraternity of Kerala extended their cooperation to the Film Heritage Mission. The stakeholder meeting witnessed several suggestions from film-makers, producers, production bodies, content owners and various trade bodies associated with cinema.
Film-makers Adoor Gopalakrishnan, K.R. Mohanan and Shyama Prasad and representatives of the Kerala State Film Development Corporation, Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, Kerala Film Chamber and film historians and critics participated in the deliberations.
Mr. Magdum said that a series of consultation meetings held in various parts of the country would help the NFAI create the future road map and adopt best practices from the industry so as to implement the mission as per global standards. He said that the Kerala government was keen on establishing an archive in the State.
He said that the NFAI was also exploring possibilities of making the archival material accessible to the public by releasing DVDs. “We are looking at it in the long term. We have to discuss it with content owners,” he said.
Efforts are also on to amend the Cinematograph Act to make it mandatory that one copy of the print of every film should be given for preservation. Out of the 565 films digitised by the NFAI, about 300 have been restored in 2K standards. The NFAI is planning to associate with universities to start a component of film preservation in film curriculum studies.
