Film Preservation & Restoration Workshop India 2025

Film Preservation & Restoration Workshop India 2025 (FPRWI 2025) – an initiative of Film Heritage Foundation in association with the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) to be held in Bhubaneswar from November 12 – 19, 2025

FPRWI 2025 is the 10th edition of an important international training workshop on film preservation that is open to both Indian and international participants and will be taught by a faculty of international experts from leading museums and archives around the world. This annual workshop has been conducted in different cities across India since 2015 by Film Heritage Foundation in association with the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) based in Brussels – an umbrella body that has 184 member archives from 80 countries.

This workshop is crucial to developing a resource of film archivists to save our film heritage and is the only one of its kind in our part of the world. Till date, we have conducted workshops in Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram and trained 450 participants.

The curriculum covers the entire gamut of topics related to film preservation including conservation of analogue films and film-related paper, photographs and artefacts, film identification, repair and treatment, digital preservation and restoration, archive management, public access and screenings of restored films. The course is certified by FIAF.


10TH FILM PRESERVATION & RESTORATION WORKSHOP INDIA 2025 (FPRWI 2025)

DATES AND VENUE:

Date: November 12 – 19, 2025

Venue: Kalabhoomi Odisha Crafts Museum

Shilpi Vihar, Pokhariput, Bhubaneswar 751030.

Odisha, India. 

Film Preservation & Restoration Workshop India 2025 (FPRWI 2025) is an initiative of Film Heritage Foundation in partnership with the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) and in collaboration with The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project, British Film Institute, L’Immagine Ritrovata, Institut National de l’Audiovisuel (INA), Cinemateca Portuguesa, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and The Criterion Collection / Janus Films.

Audio-visual collections age, deteriorate, and expand exponentially in the digital age; therefore, it has become vitally important to invest in training, outreach, and assistance programs aimed at providing guidance to professionals whose responsibility is preservation and access.

This 7- day workshop, open to applicants from all over the world, covers the complete range of the issues and topics required to work in the field of audio-visual preservation and will be taught by an international faculty of experts in the field.

The curriculum included both lectures and hands-on sessions on film, video, audio and digital preservation, film conservation and restoration, digitization, cataloguing, paper and photograph conservation, programming, and much more. Classes will be followed by daily evening screenings of restored films from around the world.

Applications are closed now!


MARTIN SCORSESE:

“This year we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Film Heritage Foundation’s preservation and restoration workshop, which will be held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project has been a proud partner of the Film Heritage Foundation since the workshops began in 2015. It’s a remarkable program that has successfully cultivated a commitment to preserving India’s rich cinematic legacy, as evidenced by the unprecedented number of films now archived and restored by the Film Heritage Foundation.

The workshops have also been responsible for training over 450 people, from India and around the world, equipping them with the specialized skills required to preserve and restore motion pictures. Co-presented by the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF), the workshop’s curriculum familiarizes students with the art and science of preservation from a multitude of perspectives, taught by faculty representing an impressive roster of prestigious institutions.

It’s gratifying for me to see the enthusiasm and the momentum created by this initiative, as every year, another group of future preservationists leaves the workshop primed and ready to do their part in helping save global cinema for future generations.

Congratulations to the Film Heritage Foundation and its founder, Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, on ten years of making a tremendous impact in the field of film preservation.”

Odia Cinema Pattachitra Style
Artist Rashmiranjan Mahapatra’s work commissioned by FHF 
interpretation of Saghir Ahmed, the Odia filmmaker, (who also taught screenwriting at FTII, Pune), and his acclaimed film “Dhaare Alua” (1983).
Interpretation of A.K. Bir, the Odia filmmaker and his films.

HIGHLIGHTS:

  • Course covers lectures and practical sessions in every aspect of film preservation including analogue films and digital preservation and restoration, paper and photograph conservation, film programming and archive management.
  • Superb international faculty from the premier institutions around the world including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, British Film Institute, L’Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna, Institute National de l’Audiovisuel and Cineteca Portuguesa.
  • Daily screenings of restored classics films.
  • Participants will receive a certificate from FIAF on completion of the course.
Interpretation of Ghanashyam Mohapatra (1933 -) and “Kanakalata” (1974) and other films
Interpretation of Pattachitra painting of Sadhu Meher (1939 – 2024) and his films.

A fantastic start to the 10th Film Preservation and Restoration Workshop India 2025 as Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, our brand ambassador welcomes the legendary actress Waheeda Rehman along with the Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri Mohan Charan Majhi as our Chief Guest.


FACULTY
  • David Walsh, Independent Lecturer
  • Dr. Nora Kennedy – Sherman Fairchild Conservator in Charge of the Department of Photograph Conservation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
  • Marianna de Sanctis, Head of Film Repair, L’Immagine Ritrovata
  • Marina Ruiz-Molina – Conservator, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
  • Dr. Elena Nepoti, Film Conservation Manager, British Film Institute
  • Joanna White – Knowledge & Collections Developer, British Film Institute National Archive
  • Dylan Cave – Collections Development Manager, British Film Institute
  • Robin Baker – Marketing and film programming, Bridport Arts Centre
  • Etienne Marchand – Multimedia Engineer, Institut National de L’Audiovisuel
  • Tiago Ganhão – Film Restoration Specialist, Cinemateca Portuguesa
  • Zoé Rogez – Chemical Department, L’Immagine Ritrovata
  • Lee Kline – Restoration Supervisor and Consultant
  • Ryan Hullings – Audio Supervisor, The Criterion Collection
  • Paolo Simoni – Co-founder and Director, Home Movies – Archivio Nazionale del Film di Famiglia (Italy)
  • Manuel Götz – Film Restorer, Tinted Memories Collective, Munich
  • Murchana Borah – Senior Cataloguer, Film Heritage Foundation
  • Priyanka Shetye – Acquisition-in-charge, Film Heritage Foundation
  • Pravin Singh Sisodia – Film Conservator, Film Heritage Foundation
A magical moment captured at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the magnificent Sun Temple at Konark with the entire group of participants, faculty, the crew and the FHF team that is a wonderful memory of the 8-day 10th Film Preservation & Restoration Workshop India 2025 in Odisha.


GOAL OF THE PROGRAMME

The target audience for the workshop would be junior level film archive staff, audio-visual professionals wishing to learn about archiving, students studying media and related topics and individuals with a keen interest in audio-visual archiving.

Once completed, the participants will have acquired the basic tools to preserve and digitize audio-visual material and a wide understanding of issues and topics required to work in the field of audio-visual archiving and preservation. Additionally, participants will have become a part of a collaborative network of like-minded media archivists committed to the cause of preserving their cultural heritage.

Interpretation of Pattachitra painting of National Award-winning actress Parbati Ghose (1942 – 2018), who is also credited to be the first woman director and producer in the Odia film industry, and her films.
Interpretation of Pattachitra painting of Nityanand Palit (1923 – 1990) and his films.

COURSE CONTENT

The course has been designed to provide the essentials on a broad range of topics covering all aspects of AV archiving, and every participant will attend classes on every topic. Throughout the seven days of the workshop, there will be a series of one-hour lectures presented to all, coupled with two-hour workshops for smaller groups of six to eight people in a rolling schedule so that all participants attend every workshop topic. Participants are encouraged to use these small-group workshops as a collaborative opportunity to raise their own concerns and ideas with the teacher.

The course has been broadly divided into six major streams as follows:

  1. Digital Management
  2. Digitisation
  3. Photochemical Technology
  4. Cataloguing and Access
  5. Archive Management
  6. Film-related Material

LECTURES:

  • Introduction to Film Technology
  • Digital Technology & Digital Preservation
  • Digital Infrastructure, Management and Digital Workflows
  • Small Gauge Film
  • Advocacy and Funding
  • Programming Classic Films
  • Film Restoration Workflow

SMALL GROUP SESSIONS:

  • Film Repair
  • Film in Serious Condition
  • Film Identification
  • Acquisition and Collection Development
  • Digital Film Restoration and Workflow
  • Video and Audiotape Digitisation
  • Scanning Archival Films
  • Sound Restoration
  • Preventive Conservation of Photographs
  • Introduction to Paper Conservation
  • Cataloguing and Access
  • Open Source Software
  • Film Programming
Interpretation of Pattachitra painting of Nirad Mohapatra (1947 – 2015) and “Maya Miriga” (1984).
Interpretation of Pattachitra painting of Manmohan Mahapatra (1951 – 2020) and his films.

CERTIFICATION

Film Preservation and Restoration Workshop India 2025 is internationally recognized under the patronage of FIAF (International Federation of Film Archives). At the end of the course, participants will receive a certificate endorsed by FIAF.


WORKSHOP CATALOGUE

Interpretation of Pattachitra painting of Mohan Sundar Dev Goswami (1892 – 1948) and “Sita Bibaha” (1936), the first Odia film which starred Makhanlal Banarjee as ‘Rama’.
Interpretation of Pattachitra painting of Mohammad Mohsin (1942 – 2003) and his films.

NEWS ARTICLES

(Click on image to read the full article)


The New Indian Express
The Times of India
Orissa Post
Gurgaon Times

Prameya
The Sakala
Sambad
Pragativadi

Onno Samaya
Bhubaneswar Times
The Times of India
The Indian Express

PARTNERS

ORGANISERS

FIAF

The International Federation of Film Archives (also known as FIAF, its French acronym), has been dedicated to the preservation of, and access to, the world’s film heritage since 1938. It brings together the world’s leading non-profit institutions in this field. Its 183 affiliated film archives in 80 countries are committed to the rescue, collection, preservation, screening, and promotion of films, which are valued both as works of art and culture and as historical documents.

 


OUR SUPPORTERS

HANDLOOMS, TEXTILES & HANDICRAFTS DEPARTMENT, GOVERNMENT OF ODISHA – KALABHOOMI ODISHA CRAFTS MUSEUM

Odisha Crafts Museum Kalabhoomi was established on 22nd March 2018 under the Handlooms, Textiles & Handicrafts Department, Govt. of Odisha. It showcases the Handicraft & Handloom Craft traditions heritage of Odisha state. The heritage museum spreads around 12.68 acres of land, with awesome ambience. In addition, the museum gallery divided into two blocks such as Handicrafts block and Handloom Block. It comprises of 9 galleries namely Terracotta, Traditional Painting, Stone and Wood Carving, Metal Crafts, Natural material Crafts, Pre Weaving Techniques, Tribal Crafts, Crafts of Shree Jagannath Culture, and Handlooms gallery. Apart from these facilities, such as the AV room, children play zone area, open air amphitheatre, workshop zone for Handicrafts and Handlooms also exists. The Museum is working with a vision to promote the existing Crafts as well as to revive the languishing crafts. It also seeks to position Odisha’s rich heritage in the global eye. The Skillful Craftsmanship of artisans take forward the vision of art and craft to certain level where Odisha has occupied a unique place, which attracts tourists across the country and abroad. This is the only organisation in the state that provides ample opportunity to intellectuals, students, research scholars to conduct research in this sector.

Handlooms,Textiles & Handicrafts Department, Government of Odisha

It is popularly conceptualized as a “Living Museum” in as much as, the artefacts of all the crafts displayed in various galleries of the museum are still in practice by artisan and weaving communities inhabited across the state.


THE FILM FOUNDATION’S WORLD CINEMA PROJECT

Created in 1990 by Martin Scorsese, The Film Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting and preserving motion picture history.

By working in partnership with archives and studios, the foundation has helped to restore over 1000 films, which are shared with the public through programming at festivals, museums, and educational institutions around the world. The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project has restored 58 films from 30 different countries representing the rich diversity of world cinema. In 2017, WCP partnered with FEPACI (the Pan African Federation of Filmmakers), UNESCO, and the Cineteca di Bologna to launch the African Film Heritage Project (AFHP), an initiative to locate, preserve, and disseminate African cinema. The foundation’s free educational program, The Story of Movies, teaches young people – over 10 million to date – about film language and history. The Film Foundation Restoration Screening Room presents monthly film restorations, free and accessible through any web browser. www.film-foundation.org


ADOBE INC.

Adobe is leading and defining the future of digital media and digital marketing. It gives everyone, from emerging artists to global brands, everything they need to design and deliver exceptional digital experiences. Adobe is one of the world’s largest software companies and ranked among the best brands with a global presence in 37 countries and 22,000 employees.

 


THE ITALIAN CULTURAL EMBASSY CULTURAL CENTRE, NEW DELHI

The Italian Cultural Embassy Cultural Centre, New Delhi, founded in 1971, is the official Italian governmental body dedicated to promoting Italian Language and Culture in India. It is part of a worldwide network of 83 Italian government offices located in all continents with the goal of promoting Italian culture and heritage.

Our main mission is to make Italian culture known to the society at large in India through the organization of artistic, cultural and academic events, the provision of courses of Italian language and heritage and the dissemination of information about Italy and its society. Italian Embassy Cultural Centre facilitates interactions between Italian and local researchers, scholars and cooperate with local cultural organizations and academic institutions.


TATA TRUSTS

Established in 1892, the Tata Trusts are India’s oldest and amongst Asia’s largest philanthropic institutions.

They have played a pioneering role in bringing about an enduring difference in the lives of the communities they serve, advancing equity, resilience, and shared progress. Inspired by the vision of the Founder Jamsetji Tata and guided by a legacy of proactive philanthropy, the Tata Trusts work to catalyse systemic and sustainable change across diverse areas by building institutions, strengthening public systems, and accelerating socio-economic development in a wide variety of areas- healthcare; nutrition; education; water, sanitation and hygiene; urban and rural livelihoods, amongst others. The Trusts build meaningful solutions, bridging tradition and innovation, through collaborations that nurture grassroots efforts, empower change makers, and touch lives across India.

One of the key focus areas of the Arts and Culture portfolio is working in the field of conservation – art conservation, built heritage conservation and film preservation. The practice of film preservation in India is at a nascent stage, one that the Trusts, are happy to support in offering training opportunities in a bid to not only help preserve India’s vast cinematic heritage, but to also help generate employment opportunities in this field.

For more information please visit: www.tatatrusts.org


GAIL (INDIA) LTD.

GAIL (India) Ltd. was incorporated in August, 1984 as a Central Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoP&NG). GAIL (India) Limited is India’s largest Natural Gas company and ranked among the top gas utilities in Asia. 

Their business activities range from Gas Transmission and Marketing to Processing; transmission of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG); production and marketing of Petrochemicals like HDPE and LLDPE. They have extended their presence in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) re-gasification, City Gas Distribution and Exploration & Production through equity and joint venture participations. Of late, they have also diversified into solar and wind power regeneration. GAIL has installed India’s second largest solar roof top connected captive solar power plant at Pata Petrochemical complex. GAIL is setting up a 10 MW green hydrogen plant which will be one of the largest green hydrogen plants in the world.


KODAK

Kodak Motion Picture Film & Entertainment – The technology that sets the standard and stands the test of time in the production, postproduction, distribution, exhibition and archiving of motion pictures worldwide. Kodak offers a wide variety of products, spanning the entire motion picture value chain from image capture to post, on through distribution / exhibition and archival applications. The advanced technology of KODAK VISION3 motion picture film provides the highest degree of image quality and creative flexibility.

 


RASA

RASA, the brainchild of Madhulika and Manish Tibrewal was established in Jaipur in 1998. They started off in the realm of fashion with a single block printer and a single pattern master. They soon expanded their operations to designing home textiles. Today, RASA fashion and home textiles are available at select stores in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, Japan and South East Asia. Beautiful block prints on silks, linens and specially woven fabrics are a hallmark at RASA.


FILM JOURNALISTS FORUM, ODISHA

The Film Journalists Forum, Odisha (FJF Odisha) is a collective of journalists, critics, and scholars committed to the documentation, analysis, and promotion of Odia cinema. The Forum works to preserve the state’s cinematic heritage, encourage meaningful film criticism, and foster dialogue between filmmakers, media professionals, and audiences. Through exhibitions, seminars, and collaborations with cultural institutions, FJF Odisha seeks to safeguard and celebrate the legacy of Odia cinema for future generations.


COLLABORATORS

BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE (BFI)

Founded in 1933, the BFI is a registered charity governed by Royal Charter, a National Lottery distributor, and the UK’s lead organisation for film and the moving image. The BFI National Archive was founded in 1935 and has grown to become the one of the largest and most important collections of film and television in the world with over 175,000 films and 800,000 television programmes. The archive also boasts a significant collection of filmmakers’ papers as well as extensive stills, posters and production and costume designs along with original scripts, press books and related ephemera.

The films in our collections are a fascinating record of the history, culture and art of filmmaking and TV production, as well as a document of daily life in the UK from the late 19th century to today. Our collections are an invaluable resource for researchers, students, filmmakers and TV producers, and we share the collections publicly through screenings, releases in cinemas and on DVD and Blu-ray and online.


L’IMMAGINE RITROVATA

L’Immagine Ritrovata is a highly specialized film restoration laboratory created and developed in Bologna (Italy) thanks to Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna.

A solid film knowledge, a long experience in the field – always supported by careful preliminary philological and technical research – the most up-to-date equipment covering all workflows, from photochemical to 4K technology, as well as a vast and diverse range of projects, make L’Immagine Ritrovata a leading laboratory in the field.

Today the group includes four branches: L’Immagine Ritrovata’s headquarters in Bologna, L’Image Retrouvée and Éclair Classics in Paris, Haghefilm in the Netherlands, and L’Immagine Ritrovata Asia in Hong Kong.

L’Immagine Ritrovata is one of the main organizers of the FIAF Film Restoration Summer School, which has been taking place in Bologna since 2007 and will be held again in 2024. The school has been also hosted in Singapore (2013), Mumbai (2015), Buenos Aires (2017) and in Mexico City (2019).


FONDAZIONE CINETECA DI BOLOGNA

Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna is an internationally recognized FIAF film archive with a multi-faceted mission ranging from film preservation and dissemination, training, research and publishing.

In 2007 Cineteca organised the first FIAF Restoration School in Bologna, where it has regularly taken place every other year since then with participants from over 70 countries.

Its annual festival Il Cinema Ritrovato is one of the most awaited venues for film historians, scholars and cinephiles all over the world. Cineteca di Bologna and L’Immagine Ritrovata have worked in partnership with entities and organizations world-wide, and completed over 800 restorations.


THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world for everyone to experience and enjoy. The Museum lives in two iconic sites in New York City—The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters. Millions of people also take part in The Met experience online.

Since its founding in 1870, The Met has always aspired to be more than a treasury of rare and beautiful objects. Every day, art comes alive in the Museum’s galleries and through its exhibitions and events, revealing new ideas and unexpected connections across time and across cultures.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art collects, studies, conserves, and presents significant works of art across time and cultures in order to connect all people to creativity, knowledge, ideas, and one another.


INSTITUT NATIONAL DE L’AUDIOVISUEL (INA)

As a cultural audiovisual enterprise, INA has been responsible since 1974 for the preservation, enhancement and transmission of the French audiovisual heritage. INA is also an international training and research center on media and digital content.

 

 


CINEMATECA PORTUGUESA – MUSEU DO CINEMA, I.P.

The Cinemateca Portuguesa-Museu do Cinema is the national film museum of Portugal, a state institution devoted to the preservation and screening of the Portuguese and the world’s moving images heritage.

It was founded in the early 1950s by cinémathèque pioneer Manuel Félix Ribeiro, and became an autonomous institution in 1980. In 1996, the Cinemateca opened a modern conservation centre in the outskirts of Lisbon, which is now the base to all preservation, technical research and access activities, including the use of new technologies.


criteriion-collection-logo

THE CRITERION COLLECTION

Since 1984, the Criterion Collection has been dedicated to publishing important classic and contemporary films from around the world in editions that offer the highest technical quality and award-winning, original supplements. No matter the medium—from laserdisc to DVD, Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD to streaming—Criterion has maintained its pioneering commitment to presenting each film as its maker would want it seen, in state-of-the-art restorations with special features designed to encourage repeated watching and deepen the viewer’s appreciation of the art of film.


JANUS FILMS

Founded in 1956, Janus Films was the first theatrical distribution company dedicated to bringing international art-house films to U.S. audiences. 

Janus handles rights in all media to an extensive library that includes the work of Michelangelo Antonioni, Vera Chytilová, Sergei Eisenstein, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, Abbas Kiarostami, Akira Kurosawa, Ousmane Sembène, Andrei Tarkovsky, François Truffaut, Agnès Varda, and Yasujiro Ozu. Janus handles rights in all media, and its library has grown to more than 1200 films.


TINTED MEMORIES FILM RESTORATION COLLECTIVE

Tinted Memories was founded in 2021 by film restorers Patricia Ferbeck-Reidinger, Andreas Kern and Manuel Goetz. The company is headquartered in Munich, Germany. We provide restoration services of all film and carrier formats. Our portfolio encompasses negative editing, mechanical and photochemical restoration, archival research and film digitization. 

As a collective we regard our co-workers as equal partners both within our company as well as at the institutions we work with. We hold high the dissemination of knowledge and maintain a long list of international partner institutions where we have given workshops of various natures.

 


HOME MOVIES – ARCHIVIO NAZIONALE DEL FILM DI FAMIGLIA (ITALY)

Home Movies 100 is a project of the Home Movies Foundation National Family Film Archive ETS carried out in partnership with the Kiné production house and counting on numerous institutional collaborations.

For over twenty years, Home Movies has been archiving and restoring the private and unpublished film memories of Italians from all over the country in Bologna. The Foundation’s mission is the cultural enhancement of this important heritage. With Home Movies 100, it celebrates the centenary of the birth of small film formats and the history of family, amateur, experimental and artists’ cinema.