By Utpal Borpujari in Panaji
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which gives out the Oscar Awards, is working continuously to save the work of maestro Satyajit Ray.
And that is not all. AMPAS is also looking at collaborating closely with the National Film Archives of India (NFAI) to preserve and restore more Indian films in the future.
“AMPAS is working continuously to save the artwork of the maestro and has saved his Apu trilogy, whose negatives were almost burnt,” AMPAS preservationist Tessa Idlewine said at a workshop on “Restoration of Satyajit Ray Preservation Project” at the 47th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) here.
Former AMPAS president Sid Ganis said that the Academy had been developing a very close relationship with Indian filmmakers and with Goa through the IFFI. “In the past few years, the Academy is getting to know Indian celebrities and filmmakers and wanting to enhance and expand its relationship with Indian Film Industry,” he said. “The Academy is not just an Academy for America or Hollywood alone, but for filmmakers and artistes across the world.”
AMPAS had started its 25-year-old Active Preservation Program in 1991 and has four full-time preservationists. The Academy vaults have 92,000 film titles stored in them.
Ganis also conducted a special workshop on ‘Foreign Language Film Selection for Oscar Awards by AMPAS, during which he and Idlewine said that preference for preservation was given to Oscar nominated films as well as films that were unique, important and decaying. “Out of the 37 films under the project, 21 have been restored successfully,” Idlewine said.
At another masterclass VFX, Post Visual Effects and Compositing Supervisor Theresa Ellis Rygiel said visual effects were part of pre-planning stages and it was important to create a dialogue between visual effects and other branches of cinema.
“VFX is very much part of planning and finalising the sequences. Today, visual effects are everywhere, especially in money making films,” she said.
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