A scene from the 2002 film Magunira Shagada
Manish Kumar
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar: There is good news for cine buffs. A number of rare Oriya documentary films, feature films and commercial movies made in the 16 mm and 35 mm formats are now set to be preserved at the National Film Archives of India (NFAI), Pune, in a move that aims at ensuring that a repository of significant Oriya movies is maintained.
Information and public relations deputy secretary BK Mohapatra has sent a list of old and rare Oriya films recommended for preservation to NFAI.
The letter urges NFAI to “shortlist the films you need to take for archival preservation so as to obtain the copyright from the producer and copyright holders for the purpose”.
The list of films dispatched to NFAI by the Orissa government include 104 documentary films that range from movies made on Oriya luminaries such as Buxi Jagabandhu and Gopabandhu Das to those that depict the vast tourism potential of the state. Films based on the lives and struggles of women, natural disasters, fiction, health awareness, the history of the state, art and craft have also been recommended for preservation.
Besides, 15 Oriya feature films in the 16 mm format and 14 in the 35 mm have been also been recommended to NFAI for preservation, according to the list prepared by the state information and public relations department. Films screened for awards by the state culture department such ase-Prema Sabuthu Balaban, Emiti bi Prema Huea and Bhul Bujhibani Mote have also been included in the list.
NFAI has welcomed the move. “We welcome the move by the Orissa government of sending the list of recommendations for preservation of old and rare Oriya films. We are eager to preserve and promote regional cinema and the recommendations will be considered,” said an official of NFAI’s film documentation department.
NFAI already has some Oriya films. The website of the organization says three Oriya films — Aranya Rodana (1993), Indradhanura Chhai (1993) and Magunira Shagada (2002) — are preserved with them.
The film archives division at NFAI has a collection that includes more than 19,000 films and lakhs of film reels, according to officials of the organistaion. It acts a significant repository of rare and old films in the country and works under the Union ministry of information and broadcasting.