Thiruvananthapuram:

Kerala State Chalachithra Academy will digitize more than 3,000 films in its collection so that it can be easily accessed by the general public.

The academy has invited proposals for digitizing the films and storing them in its server. The collection include films from 1910, sourced from various channels and are currently in DVD format.

Academy sources said that the digitized films can be viewed by the public at the academy’s library at Panavila in the capital, where 40 people can watch the films at a time in computers.

“Once an individual remits a membership fee and becomes a member, they can watch the films of their choice from the archives. The membership fee is yet to be decided,” sources said.

The academy has also submitted a proposal to the government for digitizing film publications that were once popular but are not published any more.

The academy has under its possession more than 1, 000 copies of publications like Chithra Karthika, which were once popular in the market.

“These magazines will also be digitized and they can be accessed through the website of the academy free of cost,” sources said.

In addition, the academy is also in the process of collecting rare film prints that are archived without much preservation in various film studios in Chennai in order to restore and preserve them.

Restoration of four films including M T Vasudevan Nair’s critically acclaimed film Nirmalyam is currently underway.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kozhikode / TNN / March 30th, 2016