Pune: Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah inaugurated the Film Preservation and Restoration Workshop India 2016 here. The workshop will be held from February 26 till March 6 here and will involve lectures, presentations and practical classes that will be conducted by leading international experts in the field.
After having accomplished a successful inaugural edition of an academic initiative focused on film preservation and restoration in 2015, this year the Film Heritage Foundation in association with Viacom18 have once again joined hands with the aim to save and uphold the legacy of India’s cinematic heritage.
The inaugural event, which was held in the National Film Archive of India here on Thursday, saw support from Naseeruddin, who was the guest of honour. At the inaugural event, filmmaker and archivist Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, and chairman CII National Committee on Media & Entertainment & Group CEO Viacom18 Media Pvt – Sudhanshu Vats, addressed the audience about the need to preserve India’s rich film legacy.
“We strongly believe that every enterprise has to be global and social at the same time. At Viacom18, we know for a fact that India is a country of storytellers; in fact the largest and oldest stories in the world come from here,” Vats said in a statement.
“After receiving a great response in the first year itself, we are back again with a longer, more advanced and intensive Film Preservation and Restoration Workshop for all those who understand the importance of the rich cinematic legacy of India and who wish to learn, explore and contribute and contribute to saving our film heritage,” Dungarpur added.
Extending his support to the initiative, Naseeruddin said there is an ‘urgent need’ to preserve the cinematic legacy.
“When Shivendra called me and requested me to be the Chief Guest at the opening ceremony of the Film Preservation and Restoration Workshop India 2016, I was very happy to accept. There has been a growing awareness about how much of our cinematic legacy has been lost over the years for various reasons and the urgent need to preserve what is left of it,” he added.
With a mix of technical workshops on the craft of preservation and lectures specially designed by David Walsh, head of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) technical commission, there will also be a daily screening of classic Indian film.
Thelma Ross from the Museum of Modern Art, New York will be conducting sessions in the specialised field of documentation and cataloguing.
@Agency report.
