NFAI not acknowledged in PIFF catalogue last year, says NFAI Director

Director of Film Archive of India Prashant Pathrabe hopes media unit of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will be given prominence in this year's Pune International Film Festival

National Film Archive of India (NFAI) Director Prashant Pathrabe has expressed displeasure over the media unit of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting not being given prominence in last year’s Cinema Catalogue of the 10th Pune International Film Festival that was held in the city.

“We are with Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) from its inception and have been cooperating with them in every way possible every year. We have given 26 rare films to be showcased during the festival.

Always remembered: Pune International Film Festival Director Dr Jabbar Patel said the NFAI and its director are being given due credit for work and contributions. File Pic

NFAI was no given prominence and when I went through the list of acknowledgements, there was no mention. It might have happened unintentionally and if so, the same mistake should not be repeated this year when we celebrate 100 Years of Indian Cinema,” Pathrabe. He added that NFAI is a premier institute of film archives in the country and contributes to international film festivals by offering its rare collection as per requirement.

“We don’t charge PIFF a single paisa, though we get Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 for screening of our movies at other film festivals, depending on the number of reels,” Pathrabe said.u00a0u00a0

The other side
Pune International Film Festival Director Dr Jabbar Patel, said, “We are giving NFAI a bigger honour, as it is our festival partner and is also providing its venue. Gems from NFAI are always our pride and we give due credit to this premier organisation for its film collection and conservation. Over the past 10 years, screening of NFAI films at PIFF has became a part of the overall programme. If anything has been left out in the catalogue, I will personally acknowledge NFAI and its director’s valuable contribution to PIFF since the past decade.”u00a0Santosh Unecha, associate director, PIFF, said, “In the catalogue, we have included the NFAI logo on the films showcased in PIFF 2012. Though the name of NFAI is not in the acknowledgement list in last year’s catalogue, we had given the names of NFAI’s print unit officer and other staff members, including the projection operator in the list. In addition, NFAI is part of I & B ministry and we had acknowledged the ministry in the catalogue.”u00a0

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