REEL HERO

Nolan will visit Mumbai, talk on cinema preservation

christopher-nolan (File) Hollywood director Christopher Nolan

Much has been said about India's soft power—courtesy its diverse culture and legacy of rich cinema—by the global powers that be. However, in this film-loving country, which produces more movies than any of its counterparts, there are few who are willing to preserve the celluloid.

On March 31, Mumbai will host Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan and well known visual artist and activist Tacita Dean. Advocating the cause of celluloid in the event Reframing the future of Films, the duo will highlight the necessity of preserving photochemical film in the digital age, exploring why it is essential to keep it available as a medium for the future generations. They will also discuss the necessity of determining new archival and exhibition standards that can secure film's future.

The event will be conducted by Film Heritage Foundation (FHF) which was founded by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur. According to an official statement, Christopher was all praise for Indian cinema, saying, "India has a wonderful cinema and such a rich history of art. Everything needs to be done, not only to encourage its proper preservation for future generations, but also to re-introduce the film medium to the younger artists and filmmakers in the country."

Expressing concern for the current scenario, one of the FHF advisors remarked, "It is sad that in the digital age, India has turned its back on celluloid which is such a beautiful medium to shoot a film." Shyam's concern is a valid one if we go by the reports of gross mismanagement, years after a fire destroyed numerous valuable reels of Indian cinema. On January 8, 2003, fire had broken out in a nitrate vault of the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) on the Film and Television Institute of India campus. In about an hour, all the reels in the vault were reduced to ashes.

Going by a statement by the then minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in Rajya Sabha, NFAI lost 607 films, in 5,097 reels, in the fire. These include a number of pre-1950 films, including silent films from the early era of the Indian film industry, some of these by Dadasaheb Phalke and V. Shantaram. In addition to these classics, 544 reels that stored war footage in Italian, English, German and Russian were unique prints, not copied on any medium, and therefore lost from NFAI’s collection. Mishaps like these are proof enough that Indian cinematic heritage needs more attention.

Praising the effort, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan said, "I was pleased to hear that Christopher Nolan and Tacita Dean are coming to speak for the cause of films in association with FHF. I think it is remarkable that the foundation has found international support from one of the world's leading filmmakers and a renowned artist."

This is not the first event of this sort hosted by national award-winning filmmaker, film activist and restorer Dungarpur. He has worked for this cause by conducting several workshops on film restoration and preservation, and has also given talks on the subject around the world.

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