Thomson Foundation to help India preserve films

Panaji, Nov 28 (UNI) With globalisation and privatization having no impact on preservation of films in India, the Paris-based Thomson Foundation for Film and TV Heritage has come forward to assist the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) at Pune in a big way.

''The Foundation with global presence is now actively engaged in the gigantic task of both preservation of the celluloid films, their digitization and in some cases restoration of the films so that the future generations appreciate the rich art and cultural heritage of respective nations," claims Ms Severine Wemaere, managing director of the Foundation.

Talking to UNI here today on the sidelines of the ongoing 38th edition of the International Film Festival of India(IFFI), she said the Foundation had late undertaken the task of restoration and preservation of films in war ravaged Cambodia by collecting the films from here and there.

At the same time, the foundation had also been engaged in similar task in Thailand even as it was negotiating with Vietnam for the same purpose. It was at present active in the USA and Europe, she said.

She was here in connection with the Foundation participating in the "IFFI Goa Film Treasures" that emphasizes the importance of film heritage. This new cinema section opened today will continue till December 1.

The Thomson Foundation, with the help of the La Cinematheque Francaise, Paris, the NFAI, Pune and the Film and Television Institute of India had partnered with the IFFI this year to launch the Classic Film Treasures section dedicated to international film heritage.

In a tete-e-tete with newspersons in this connection, Mr K S Sasidharan, NFAI director regretted that only 20 to 25 per cent of the films produced in India had been preserved for posterity with the lack of involvement of the very film industy even in this era of globailsation, privatization and public-private-partnership.

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