Scene from Manthan directed by Shyam Benegal starring Girish Karnad and Smita Patil. , Photo courtesy: The Hindu
The 30th edition of the Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) is set to showcase digitally restored versions of six iconic Indian films of the 20th century made by eminent Indian film directors.
These cult classics include churn By Shyam Benegal, Thampu By Govindan Aravindan, disbelief (The Ritual) by Girish Kasaravalli, ishanau (The Chosen One) by Aribam Syam Sharma, Maya Miriga (The Mirage) Nirad N. by Mahapatra, and beyond your nadir (Beyond Thirteen Rivers) by Barin Saha.
These six films, made in different Indian languages such as Malayalam, Hindi, Oriya and Manipuri, were produced between 1969 and 1990. These will be screened at KIFF across two venues – Nandan II and Radha Studio – between October 5 and 10 at 11 am.
Gautam Ghosh, renowned filmmaker and chairperson of the 30th KIFF, said, “These iconic classics are an important part of our film heritage, and digital restoration enables us to experience them on the big screen in great picture quality.” The Hindu,
The digital restoration of these six films was done at Shivendra Singh Dungarpur’s Film Heritage Foundation, Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project and the joint restoration facility of the National Film Development Corporation and the National Film Archive of India.
“Screening of restored classics has become a trend at film festivals like Cannes and Venice. Restoration of celluloid is very important, the new generation should know about our film classics,” said Mr Ghosh.
He said that film restorers attempt to restore films from the original film negatives, which enables audiences to watch classical films on the big screen with better picture quality.
“The visual contrast and tonal quality of these films, especially those shot in black and white, improve as the original negatives typically deteriorate over time,” said the KIFF chairperson.
Along with the restored classics, the 30th KIFF will also screen some cult films, such as Utpalendu Chakraborty’s 1983 film chokh (The Eyes), from their original 35 mm negative. chokh Scheduled to be screened at Radha Studio, Kolkata on Friday at 6.30 pm
“I took the initiative to bring Rupayan Film Laboratory to Radha Studio for the projection of these 35 mm film negatives. The audience will have a unique experience watching the film as they will see the shutter moving over the projector and the flicker of the projector on the screen,” said Mr Ghosh.
published – December 06, 2024 04:06 am IST
