US film academy to restore Satyajit Ray's film

US film academy to restore Satyajit Ray's film

Satyajit Ray fans in India have a good news. The maestro's Hindi
classic "Shatranj Ke Khiladi" (The Chess Players) would be restored by
the United States Academy of Motion Pictures, while his controversial
documentary "Sikkim" may be screened for the first time in India at
the upcoming Kolkata Film Festival.

"'The Chess Players', made in 1977, will be our next project. The
funds have been allotted for the film. It will take a year to complete
it," the Academy's noted preservationist Josef Lindner said at a press
conference here Thursday.

The academy has so far restored and preserved 15 feature films and two
documentaries - "Sikkim" and "Two" - of the Oscar winning filmmaker
since 1992. While nine feature films were restored in the first
package, the rest were worked upon in the second.

"The print of 'Sikkim' needed digital restoration. We hope to hold its
video premiere towards the end of the (Nov 10-17) festival. The film
will be ready for 35 mm screening by early next year," Lindner said.

An informed source said the copyright for "Sikkim", the hour-long
documentary made in 1971 on the then princely state in the Himalayas,
was now with a trust in Gangtok that claims to have got the
no-objection certificate from the government and the clearance from
the Censor Board.

The documentary, commisisoned by the then ruler of Sikkim, suffered
double censorship of both the commissioner and the Indian government
after the state's accession with India in 1975.

"We understand the copyright has been transferred to the trust. But
there are a few ifs and buts before we can definitely say we will be
able to screen it, as we are yet to get possession of the clearances,"
Lindner said.

Cinema buffs will also be able to watch the first-ever screening in
the country of the bulk of the second package of Ray films preserved
by the Academy.

The compositions include "Parash Pathar", "Joy Baba Felunath" and
short film "Two". Besides, "Aparajito" - the second film in Ray's
legendary Apu Trilogy - which was restored in the first package, will
also be shown.

Ray's films, restored by the Academy in its second package, have
earlier been screened in London, Washington, Norway, Finland and
Sweden.

The first package of restored films were the Apu Trilogy, "Debi" (The
Goddess), "Jalsaghar" (The Music Room), "Jana Aranya", and two of the
three films that made up "Teen Kanya" (Three Daughters).

Talking about the cost of preserving and restoring Ray's films,
Lindner said a colour film cost nearly $100,000 (Rs.4.7 million),
while the black and white ones needed $50,000 on an average.

"But the cost varied from film to film. For instance, 'Abhijan' (The
Expedition) required an amount of $75,000, as the print was in a very
bad shape. Only the audio part cost us $26,000," he said.

Lindner added that for every film, the Academy has made either two
master positives or one master positive and one master negative.

"We have preserved the master positives with us," he said.

Asked about the interest in Ray among young Americans, noted US film
critic Peter Rainer said: "Frankly speaking, there is very little
interest about Ray. The young generation has no sense of film history.
But even in his heyday, unlike Federico Felini, Ray did not have such
a fan following. He was adored by a select group."

Lindner, however, said two retrospectives of the film director held in
2003 at Washington and Los Angeles, were very well received.

via:indiainfo