Italian filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore presented the Film Heritage Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award for Cinema Projection to film projectionists at an event, which saw full-house to the special screening of the restored version of his much-loved "Cinema Paradiso" at Mumbai's Regal Cinema.
The Oscar-winning filmmaker, also known for world classics such as "Malena" and "Ennio", arrived in India to attend the three-day Italian Film Festival "Cinema Italian Style".
Tornatore headlined the inaugural edition of the gala, which will also screen the restored version of his films "Malena" and "Ennio".
The line-up of the cultural extravaganza includes other restored Italian classic films such as Luchino Visconti's "Senso" and Federico Fellini's "La Dolce Vita", "Marriage Italian Style", directed by Vittorio De Sica, and Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in America" as well.
"Cinema Paradiso", the 1988 coming-of-age dramedy, pays homage to the vital role of projectionists in the cinematic experience.
Set in a small Sicilian town, the film centres on the friendship between a young boy and an ageing projectionist who works at a movie theatre called 'Cinema Paradiso'.
Tornatore honoured Sukumar Ghosh and Chand Kumar Mondal with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Cinema Projection.
Ghosh and Mondal also received a cash prize sponsored by filmmakers Ashim Ahluwalia, Atul Sabharwal, and Vikramaditya Motwane.
The inexorable march of digital technology has pushed celluloid and its ecosystem to the margins of the world of film, said Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, director of Film Heritage Foundation.
"The curtains have come down on most single screen cinemas; film projectors are gathering dust; and film projectionists have lost their livelihood - their immense contribution to our cinematic history forgotten.
"Film Heritage Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Cinema Projection has been instituted to ensure that the projectionists who spent decades hidden in projector booths bringing us the magic of cinema on the big screen should be recognized and have their moment in the spotlight," Dungarpur said in a statement.
Film Heritage Foundation also shared glimpses of the event on its official Instagram page.
"It was house-full at the 1,100 seater heritage single screen Regal Cinema in Mumbai..." the post read.
Film personalities Siddharth Roy Kapur, Richa Chadha, Huma Qureishi, R. Balki, Gauri Shinde, Shaad Ali, Shakun Batra, Rohan Sippy, Rajeev Rai, Kunal Kapoor, Ahluwalia, Amole Gupte, Sabharwal, and Ashwini Tiwari attended the screening of "Cinema Paradiso".
At the event, Tornatore, who is on his first visit to India, received a standing ovation from the spectators.
The festival, which concludes on Sunday, is presented by Film Heritage Foundation, Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Mumbai, Axis Bank and Education Partner – IED Istituto Europeo di Design.
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