Film Archive preserves prints of films, the history of films, books, papers, motionless pictures, trailers, censor certificates, disks, cassettes, tapes, screenplays, posters, banners and other signs. Films are also exhibited there. The archive also publishes magazines, books, catalogues and bulletins. It undertakes research and surveys and organises seminars, functions and special ceremonies. The International Film Archive and UNESCO extend assistance to archives of every country.
Film Archive of Bangladesh was set up in 1978 as an organisation under the ministry of information. The designation of its chief executive is the director general (earlier the designation was curator). At the time of its foundation, the organisation was named the Bangladesh Film Institute and Archive (BFIA). In 1984, the Institute was merged with the National Mass Communications Institute to form the Film Archive with the status of an independent institution. The Film Archive started to function at a rented house in the dhanmondi area of dhaka city and its first curator was A K M Abdur Rouf. It was shifted to the Gana Bhaban area of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in 1986 and to the Lalmatia area in 1998. The government has a plan to shift it to the Agargaon area and to build a Film Complex there.
Functions of the Film Archive are: to collect and preserve prints of films and mementos like screenplays, still pictures, books of stories and songs for films, advertisement designs, posters, banners, festoons and books and journals; record important historical events and other developments; conduct research and surveys on different aspects of social life with the help of visual techniques; and educate the masses through films. The list of collected and preserved films and mementos in the Film Archive up to December 1998 include prints of 220 feature films, negatives of 180 feature films, 150 short films, 650 documentary films, 240 news films, 2,446 books and booklets, 13,580 motionless pictures, 4,152 posters, 1,371 screenplays, 287 books of songs, 1,365 summary stories, 640 motionless pictures on festivals, 11,795 paper cuttings, 8,926 magazines, and 2,739 miscellaneous items.
The list of items preserved in the Archive includes Sukumari, the first short film (silent), produced at Dhaka in 1927-28, scenario of the first feature film (silent), The Last Kiss, produced in 1931, the first Bangla feature film, Mukh O Mukhosh (1956), print of Asia, the first film of the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (FDC), copies of newspapers and magazines on cinema and culture like the monthly Cinema, Rupchhaya, Udayan, Shandhani, Mridanga, Chalantika, Chitrali, Ramna and Chitrakash, a reel of the film Dhruba, of which kazi nazrul islam was one of the directors and in which he himself was an actor, and Debdas directed by Promathesh Barua. Prints of the world famous films The Battleship Potemkin, October, The Mother, The Voyages of Fear, Rashomon, Pather Pachali, and Apur Shangshar and films on the war of liberation of Bangladesh are also in the collection.
The Archive organises exhibitions, discussion meetings, seminars and courses on film reviewing. The first course was conducted in August 1981. The syllabi of these short-term and theoretical courses include the history of films, criticism, aesthetics, editing, screenplay and art direction. Noted alumni are Morshedul Islam (produced films titled Agami, Dhaka, Dipu No. 2, Dukhai), Tanvir Mokammel (Huliya, Nadir Nam Madhumati, Chitra Nadir Padey), and Akhtaruzzaman (Princess Tina Khan, Poka Makoder Gharbasati), who are prominent among the country's serious filmmakers.
The Film Archive organised a number of film festivals and noted among them are the Indian Film Festival (1984), SAARC Film Festival (1985), German Film Festival (1987), The Soviet Union Film Festival (1988) and the Chinese Film Festival (1991). Eminent film personalities from different countries visit the Film Archive and many of them deliver lectures at seminars and workshops organised by it.
[Anupam Hayat]
Film Archive of Bangladesh was set up in 1978 as an organisation under the ministry of information. The designation of its chief executive is the director general (earlier the designation was curator). At the time of its foundation, the organisation was named the Bangladesh Film Institute and Archive (BFIA). In 1984, the Institute was merged with the National Mass Communications Institute to form the Film Archive with the status of an independent institution. The Film Archive started to function at a rented house in the dhanmondi area of dhaka city and its first curator was A K M Abdur Rouf. It was shifted to the Gana Bhaban area of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in 1986 and to the Lalmatia area in 1998. The government has a plan to shift it to the Agargaon area and to build a Film Complex there.
Functions of the Film Archive are: to collect and preserve prints of films and mementos like screenplays, still pictures, books of stories and songs for films, advertisement designs, posters, banners, festoons and books and journals; record important historical events and other developments; conduct research and surveys on different aspects of social life with the help of visual techniques; and educate the masses through films. The list of collected and preserved films and mementos in the Film Archive up to December 1998 include prints of 220 feature films, negatives of 180 feature films, 150 short films, 650 documentary films, 240 news films, 2,446 books and booklets, 13,580 motionless pictures, 4,152 posters, 1,371 screenplays, 287 books of songs, 1,365 summary stories, 640 motionless pictures on festivals, 11,795 paper cuttings, 8,926 magazines, and 2,739 miscellaneous items.
The list of items preserved in the Archive includes Sukumari, the first short film (silent), produced at Dhaka in 1927-28, scenario of the first feature film (silent), The Last Kiss, produced in 1931, the first Bangla feature film, Mukh O Mukhosh (1956), print of Asia, the first film of the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (FDC), copies of newspapers and magazines on cinema and culture like the monthly Cinema, Rupchhaya, Udayan, Shandhani, Mridanga, Chalantika, Chitrali, Ramna and Chitrakash, a reel of the film Dhruba, of which kazi nazrul islam was one of the directors and in which he himself was an actor, and Debdas directed by Promathesh Barua. Prints of the world famous films The Battleship Potemkin, October, The Mother, The Voyages of Fear, Rashomon, Pather Pachali, and Apur Shangshar and films on the war of liberation of Bangladesh are also in the collection.
The Archive organises exhibitions, discussion meetings, seminars and courses on film reviewing. The first course was conducted in August 1981. The syllabi of these short-term and theoretical courses include the history of films, criticism, aesthetics, editing, screenplay and art direction. Noted alumni are Morshedul Islam (produced films titled Agami, Dhaka, Dipu No. 2, Dukhai), Tanvir Mokammel (Huliya, Nadir Nam Madhumati, Chitra Nadir Padey), and Akhtaruzzaman (Princess Tina Khan, Poka Makoder Gharbasati), who are prominent among the country's serious filmmakers.
The Film Archive organised a number of film festivals and noted among them are the Indian Film Festival (1984), SAARC Film Festival (1985), German Film Festival (1987), The Soviet Union Film Festival (1988) and the Chinese Film Festival (1991). Eminent film personalities from different countries visit the Film Archive and many of them deliver lectures at seminars and workshops organised by it.
[Anupam Hayat]
No comments:
Post a Comment