Opinion Protect the film archive. This can’t be done by handing it to a corporation

Each of these institutions has been performing with a certain degree of freedom under the supervision of advisory bodies comprising experts in the respective fields. Over the years, they have come to gather a certain amount of expertise and special experience. If some of them have not performed to the best of expectations, the reasons are simple. Either the heads of these institutions have been chosen arbitrarily or not appointed at all or they have not been funded adequately.

The solution does not lie in their abolition. Examples are there before us. When Jaya Bachchan was heading the Children’s Film Society, it made reasonably good films. The film festivals she organised were memorable for their quality and impact. Likewise, under V S Kundu, the Films Division regained its past glory. When Shankar Mohan was its head, the IFFI was reckoned among the reputed festivals in the world.

Confusion is bound to rise when these institutions of distinctly different character and functions are brought under a monolithic structure that cannot claim to have special knowledge or experience in any of these areas. The sole aim, one suspects, is to do away with them all.

Even while blindly conceding that a moribund body organised on corporate lines could look after the designated functions of each of them with event managers, the NFAI needs to be mercifully exempted from such a body. Bringing the film archive under the aegis of the NFDC is an unwise, impractical and illegal decision.

The NFAI’s primary function is to treasure and preserve our film heritage. It is one of the largest reserves of cinema films (optical) in the world. Both old and new films are collected and kept in specially designed vaults where temperature and humidity are controlled as per international specifications.

The NFAI is a proud member of the international federation of film archives that shares, exchanges, and standardises modern methods of archiving and restoration. Its management requires special know-how and can be handled only by experts and committed and involved personnel. To compromise its functioning will be suicidal.

The remarkable collection of films in our film archive comprises both old as well as contemporary classics that have contributed to the growth of our film culture. It has virtually become the storehouse of Indian culture and heritage in a unique manner. Negatives and prints of so many films in various languages from all over India have been taken over by the archive on the condition that they would be preserved in the best possible manner. Passing over the film archive to a corporate body will be in violation of the government’s irrevocable commitment to the producers. It is the government’s duty to preserve and nurture our cultural heritage and not leave it to the vagaries of corporations.

No corporation would want to keep an archive that is not a business proposition. But as a museum and a storehouse, the upkeep of a film archive is an enormously expensive affair. The power bills alone will amount to several lakh rupees per month.

A sizeable budget has, reportedly, been allotted for the digitisation of films in the archive. A corporate body, not necessarily composed of experts and specialists in the field, may, in all likelihood, take the digitisation of films as an alternative to optical film preservation and decide to end it. The corporation, not being in the public domain, will be immune to public opinion however authentic and scientific it is.

A corporation like the NFDC may not even be aware that there is a strong movement under the leadership of the well-known Hollywood filmmaker Christopher Nolan to preserve cinema in its optical film format for long-time preservation. Film archives around the world are toeing this line.

No one knows how long the digital format will last and how secure it is for preservation. The optical film has lasted for 127 years and it is a known fact that its longevity is assured if preserved properly. The Royal Film Archive of Belgium, while acquiring a film of mine, wrote to me that the print would first be screened before an audience of 90 people in their auditorium and then moved to the vaults for preservation for the next 400 years. I thought this would preserve it for close to eternity.

It has been reported that the first move in the amalgamation has been made – to remove the head of the archive along with its film officers. Thus the functioning of the NFAI has come to a standstill. The anxious question on everyone’s lips is what would happen to their precious film materials that were passed on to the NFAI for safe keeping.

May I appeal to the good offices of the government to intervene and salvage the archive?

This column first appeared in the print edition on April 5, 2022 under the title ‘An image problem’. The writer is a filmmaker