How to protect India’s film heritage https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/how-to-protect-indias-film-heritage-7697189/ Amrit Gangar writes: It needs better preservation and archiving, not over-centralisation
India should have as many archival facilities as the number of states and Union Territories so that poor students from far-off villages who wish to pursue research can have easier access to not only NFAI’s collection of films, but also its books and other reading and viewing materials.
This could also be individually done by the Films Division (established in 1948), which is not only a production unit but also a repository of India’s history on analogue and digital media since independence. Most of India’s leading filmmakers, besides many younger filmmakers and artists, have made films for the FD, making the nation’s cultural and audio-visual heritage rich and palpable. These need to be freely disseminated among people by preserving them carefully and compassionately. No private entrepreneur would have ventured into this realm as it would not be a good “commercial” proposition for him.
CFSI, NFAI, DFF .. All these bodies under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting function individually as well as in coordination, each carrying its own history, recording the many national ups and downs as public services with no domineering monetary or profit motive.
How about setting up an umbrella Chalachitra Academy? The only state that has one is Kerala which effectively and efficiently manages all film-related activities under the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy. Such an umbrella academy would