Cataloguing Film Archives is a very challenging task says Shri Parkash Madgum, the Director National Films Archive of India (NFAI). He was addressing a press conference along with Shri Shivendra Dungarpur, the founder director of Film Heritage Foundation and Director, Directorate of Film Festivals, Shri C Senthil Rajan here yesterday to elaborate more on the ongoing multimedia exhibition at 46th IFFI, 2015. This exhibition was inaugurated by the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.

IFFI 2015

Responding to a question regarding how to prioritize cataloguing the archives, Shri Parkash Madgum said that the criteria can be any and many including the present condition of the film, work of a film maker, award winning film, popularity of the film among others. The aim is to preserve every work though preservation exercise is being taken up in phased manner, prioritising films on various criteria, he added.  Underlining the importance of ‘celluloid’ films, he recalled the remarks of the eminent film maker Adoor Gopalakrishnan, that the images on celluloid films are visible against light without any gadget. Training and Capacity building programmes in the field of Preservation and Film Archiving in co-ordination with International Agencies is a very important aspect of the NFHM and can help to produce quality manpower in this field, NFAI Director explained.

Shri Shivendra Dungarpur said the National Film Heritage Mission (NFHM) is a prestigious project of the Government of India, for acquisition and preservation of filmic heritage of the country.The infrastructure of preservation is most important and needs to be created, he added. He also said that workshops conducted by NFAI provide an opportunity to learn preservation and restoration of films enhancing chances of one’s employability as film preservers.

The Festival Director, Shri C Senthil Rajan said that the National Film Heritage Mission is a recent initiative of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. This year, a multimedia exhibition has been put up by NFAI and DAVP, on the theme of preservation, conservation digitization and restoration of film and filmic material. This will be a source for good classical films, he added.

The Multi Media Exhibition is an attempt to create awareness about the importance of Film Preservation and Film Restoration. India is one of few Countries, implementing, the film preservation and restoration, at such a massive level, in a mission mode, time bound manner.The exhibition encompasses posters and audio-visual content from the ‘Restored Classics’ of National Film Archive of India along with technical presentations explaining the processes of film restoration.