Loni Shibuyama

Contemporary Cultural Institutions

Instructor: Antonia Lant
Spring 2006

Final Paper—National Film Archive of India

I. NFAI: Its History, Mission and Activities

In 1964, the Indian government established the National Film Archive of India—a media
unit of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. NFAI,
along with the Film Institute of India in Pune, developed to become the national resource
center for film and film related material. Since then, its staff has had the arduous task of
tracking down and acquiring any film and related material, which has a particular focus
on the history and heritage of Indian cinema. All major funding comes from the Indian
government and through services provided (outlined later in this paper). Over the years,
NFAI’s mission has developed into the following:

 To trace, acquire and preserve for posterity the heritage of national cinema and a
representative collection of world cinema

 To classify and document data related to film and undertake and encourage
research on cinema

 To act as a center for the dissemination of film culture in the country, and to
promote Indian cinema abroad

Since 1969, NFAI has been a member of the International Federation of Film Archives
(FIAF). It is dedicated to its role as a purveyor of its national film culture and gives
particular attention to “the dissemination of film culture” by focusing on research and
education of the archives.

In the mid-1980’s, NFAI solidified its position as a national resource center when the
Indian government granted large funds for the Archive to expand beyond its rather
humble beginnings. The Archives were still on the premises of the Film Institute in
India, and the NFAI still had not had its own home or identity. Realizing the importance
of Indian cinema as part of its cultural heritage, the Indian government gave NFAI funds
to expand and building regional offices throughout the country.

As a result, NFAI moved its holdings out of the offices and makeshift vaults at the Film
Institute to its new building in Pune in 1994, which is the Archive’s national
headquarters. The new building includes two theater spaces, a library and proper storage
areas designed specifically for its film holdings. In addition, since 1985, NFAI has

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established three additional regional offices. Today, its future goals and objectives are to
build more storage facilities for film and to build its own film preservation laboratory.

II. Organizational Structure

The National Film Archives of India’s national headquarters are currently in Pune, India.
It is a relatively smaller city near Mumbai (Bombay), the largest city in India and the
center of India’s film industry. It is near NFAI’s former home, the Film Institute of India.
Its location in this less densely populated city and more moderate weather conditions has
allowed for better conditions under which to store such materials as film. However, it is
still within close proximity of Mumbai, where NFAI can maintain close relationships
with filmmakers, scholars, researchers and other interested parties that are concentrated
in that city.

The national headquarters is organized into four divisions: the Head of the Organization,
which includes the director of the Archives; the Film Preservation Section, which is in
charge of acquiring and preserving film and related material; the Film Library Section,
which includes its books and periodicals, its focus on research and documentation and it’s
operations in access for the public; and finally its Administrative Section.

As part of NFAI’s 1985 expansion plans, NFAI has since established three regional
offices in other cities in India. The regional offices are in Bangalore,
Thiruvananthapuram—both in the southern part of India—and Kolcata (Calcutta), in the
northern area. Each of these offices has its own theater or viewing space, its own library
and its own storage areas.

III. The Collection

Formerly, the collections of NFAI were held on the premises of the Film Institute of India
and would remain there until the collections were moved to the new NFAI building in
1994. In NFAI’s early years, its staff was dedicated to tracking down and acquiring any
films that survived of the earliest years of Indian cinema. Today, it continues this work as
well as acquiring more recent and contemporary productions of its national cinema.
NFAI focuses attention to the following categories of films:

 National and State Award-winning films

 Indian Panorama Films (a specially-selected group of films from the International
Film Festival in India—considered, for many, the “best” films made in India)
 Box-office hits
 Films shown in international film festivals
 Film adaptations of literary works
 Films representing different genres of Indian cinema
 Newsreels
 Documentaries

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NFAI acquires this collection first through donations or free deposits. Collectors and
filmmakers are often willing to do this because they understand the importance of
preserving the materials and they do not have to give up any copyright they may own. It
is mandatory for the NFAI to acquire all National award-winning films as well as Indian
Panorama films. For certain productions, NFAI will actively pursue the filmmaker,
owner or distributor for a print of the film. Occasionally, NFAI will give compensation
for various acquisitions.

NFAI’s film collection also includes a representative sampling of foreign films. Within
this category are mainly feature film productions taken from the Western canons of film
history. Typical names in this part of the collection include Godard, Renoir, Bergman,
Kurosawa, Welles, among others.

In addition to the film, NFAI also collects other ancillary materials such as disc
recordings, stills, posters, song booklets, pamphlets, press clippings and microfilm. In its
research library, NFAI holds approximately 25,000 books and periodicals published in
India and around the world regarding cinema. The library also holds various paper
records and reports, and it has over 25,000 scripts received from the Central Board of
Film Certification.

IV. Access and Public Services

The NFAI provides various services to facilitate historic and scholarly research and
appreciation of film. In the national headquarters building in Pune there are two theaters
on-site, which are used for Archive screenings and for individuals or organizations to
rent. For a fee, both the main theater (330-seat) and the preview theater (30-seat) provide
patrons the use of their rooms and projection facilities to provide a more enjoyable
experience in viewing film. It is interesting to note some of the policies for using the
theaters include no footwear allowed in the theater, no banners or advertisements allowed
anywhere on the premises, and no ritual ceremony—or “lighting of the lamp to mark the
inauguration” as it is expressed in the agreement policy—allowed in the building.

Within the library there is also viewing equipment for scholars, researchers and
individuals who wish to view a particular film or video. Viewing facilities come in VHS
and 16mm film with which individuals are allowed to watch a particular title from the
collection.

All other research and access is provided within the library departments in the
headquarters at Pune, as well as in the three other regional offices. All these
opportunities for access and services are under the umbrella of the “Dissemination of
Film Culture” in which NFAI seeks to provide its patrons with all types of opportunities
in order to encourage preservation, research and appreciation. Examples of the kinds of
activities NFAI conducts in the dissemination is further outlined in the following section.

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V. Commitment to “Dissemination of Film Culture”

The National Film Archive of India undertakes several public programs and project
designed to encourage scholarship and spread the appreciation for film and film
preservation in India and abroad. These programs are outlined here:

A. Distribution Library
The distribution libraries at the national headquarters in Pune, as well as a the
three regional offices, loan film prints to various organizations or individual
members who want to conduct a public screening of a film within NFAI’s
collection. The screenings are usually in educational institutions, cultural
organizations, film societies, etc. The films can be sent throughout the country
and abroad.

B. Screenings, Festivals and Film Circles

NFAI regularly holds screenings and film festivals to showcase the many
productions within their collection. These screenings are not limited to Indian-
produced cinema, but also include its foreign film titles. Regular screenings are
held at each of the offices and are often conducted in collaboration with an
outside cultural organization or educational institution. Occasionally, screenings
are organized to commemorate historical events and to pay tribute to eminent film
artists, etc.

NFAI also holds a Film Circle, in which programs and screenings are done on a
weekly basis. The Film Circle is only available to members of the Archive, and
membership is open to the public.

C. Research and Film Studies

The NFAI encourages and promotes research and academic activities on every
aspect of cinema, particularly in the area of Indian film history. Besides
facilitating access to the collection, the Archive very actively sponsors programs
and projects to promote this type of research.

The first of these programs at NFAI is a research fellowship, in which NFAI gives
a monthly stipend and travel allowances to a individuals conducting original
research at NFAI. This original research could be on any topic relating to Indian
cinema—its history, aesthetics or socio-economic impact.

The second program under research and film studies is Monographs, in which
individuals are given a stipend to conduct research on a particular filmmaker who
has been regarded as a pioneer in the Indian film industry. The project should be
completed within six months, and the scope should include biographical
information about the personality, their contribution to Indian filmmaking and a
comprehensive filmography.

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 The third program in this category is Aural History Projects. In this program,
NFAI gives a certain amount of money per hour of recorded audio time of an
interview with a maximum of 10 hours for each film personality. Any other
related fees will be reimbursed as well. The aural history should be done with a
pioneering film personality and include details about his or her career highlighting
their unique contribution to film history, and it may also include stories of
collaborations and correspondence with other prominent film contemporaries. A
letter of consent from the interviewee and a transcript should also be provided.

D. Film Appreciation Course

For over 20 years, the NFAI has been conducting an annual Film Appreciation
Course—a four-week course held every summer in collaboration with the Film
Institute of India. In this course, individuals are exposed to several aspects of film
history and scholarship and the best of Indian and world cinema. Topics in this
course include cinema as art, film history, film theory, aesthetics of film and
various other theoretical and practical study. These summer courses are held at
Pune and are primarily designed to help teachers who are interested in introducing
film study activities at educational institutions.

Each of these programs reveals how active NFAI is in its commitment to the
dissemination of film culture.