The much celebrated contemporary filmmaker Christopher Nolan is set to visit Mumbai in the end of March.
However, the maker of modern classics like Memento, Insomnia, The Prestige, Inception, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Interstellar and Dunkirk won’t be in the Bollywood capital for the shoot of his next film, nor for a celebration of his exceptional work.
He will be in Mumbai to bring the spotlight on another abiding passion of his — the medium of photochemical film. In these digital times, Mr. Nolan is one of the rare filmmakers, who continues to shoot and post-produce his movies entirely on film. He has been an ardent advocate of the film as a rich medium for filmmakers and artistes and an engaging one for the viewers.
Mr. Nolan, along with the celebrated visual artiste Tacita Dean, will be headlining a two-day event presented by Mumbai-based Film Heritage Foundation — Reframing the Future of Film — on March 31 and April 1, 2018.
Tacita Dean
In a press note, Mr. Nolan expressed his delight to join the Film Heritage Foundation and its founding director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur in presenting the event. “India has such wonderful cinema and such a rich history of art that everything needs to be done to not only encourage its proper preservation for future generations but also to re-introduce the film medium to the younger artistes and filmmakers in the country,” he said in the press statement.
It was in 2015, at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, that Ms. Dean and Mr. Nolan headlined the first of such events highlighting the necessity to preserve the photochemical film. It brought together professionals from the world of filmmaking, art and film preservation to discuss tangible steps that needed to be taken to protect the medium of film and its legacy and to reposition its importance in the digital market. Subsequent events were held at the Tate Modern in London in association with the British Film Institute and at Museo Tamayo at Mexico City.
The event in Mumbai will include a private roundtable discussion and a separate public event. Nolan and Dean will explore the importance and differences of shooting on film and why is it important to keep the medium available for the future artistes and filmmakers. They will discuss the necessity of determining new archival and exhibition standards to secure the future of film and how the debate around it needs to change and evolve.
Mr. Dungarpur has been at the forefront of film conservation, preservation and restoration efforts in India and has also been part of savefilm.org. He had never personally approached Nolan so the mail from him and Dean came totally out of the blue for him. “They wrote to us saying that they had been following our work, were impressed with it and wanted to come to India and hold the event under our foundation. We are proud that they chose us,” Mr. Dungarpur told The Hindu , calling it a great endorsement for what they have been doing all along.
Shivendra Singh Dungarpur
In a press note, he said that he was honoured to welcome Ms. Dean and Mr. Nolan as their guests to India to speak for the cause of celluloid and appreciated their support for the cause that their foundation stands for.
“Since our inception we have been speaking for film as a shooting, exhibition and archival medium. We have been fighting a lone battle and finally we have the support from two of the leading film exponents in the world. We are sure their advocacy will have a great impact in getting this message across to both film and art communities in India,” said Mr. Dungarpur.
Speaking of the film, noted Indian filmmaker Shyam Benegal stated: “It is sad that in the digital age, India has turned its back on celluloid which is such a beautiful medium to shoot a film. I am so happy that I had the privilege to work in the age of celluloid.”
“As an artiste who makes and exhibits film for reasons indexical to the medium, I have had no choice but to fight to get film re-appreciated for what it is: a beautiful, robust and entirely different way of making and showing images in the museum and in the cinema. Film has characteristics integral to its chemistry and internal discipline that form my work and I cannot be asked to separate the work from the medium that I use to make it. We need to keep the medium distinct from the technology; we need to keep the choice of film available for artistes, filmmakers and audiences,” stated Ms. Dean.
