We need passionate film archivists: Kamal Haasan

Pune, March 7 (IANS) Veteran actor and filmmaker Kamal Haasan says there is a "need to grow a resource of passionate film archivists" in India.

Kamal, who was the guest of honour at the closing ceremony of the Film Preservation and Restoration Workshop 2016 here, said in a statement: "A workshop of this kind is crucial for our country that has lost so much of our cinematic history and we need to grow a resource of passionate film archivists who are committed to saving our cinematic heritage.”

India's pioneering film archivist and film scholar P.K. Nair, who won the tag of the 'celluloid man' for his impeccable body of work as the founder of the National Film Archive of India (NFAI), died last week, leaving the already niche world of film archiving in India in a pall of gloom.

Some key work towards movie preservation and restoration is being done by the Film Heritage Foundation.

Its 10-day workshop in collaboration with the NFAI and International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF), saw an international faculty of leading experts in the field who addressed current issues surrounding film preservation and restoration, including practical training in current restoration and archival best practices.

"Preservation and restoration of Indian cinematic heritage is an ongoing priority for us. Our goal is to help create awareness as to how important it is to preserve our cultural heritage for the benefit of the future generations," said Sudhanshu Vats, chairman, CII National Committee on Media and Entertainment and Group CEO Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd.

The workshop covered the preservation of both film and non-film material like posters, documents, lobby cards, photographs and more, which are an integral part of our cinematic heritage.

Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, founder director, Film Heritage Foundation, added: "This has been a great year and with a second successful workshop behind us, we now have to start work on our mission to build an army of skilled film preservationists and restorers that is needed to save our moving image legacy".