In-Focus Followup: Conserving South Asian Cinema Q&A

This post was written by Erica Jones and Lydia Creech, Project Film Specialists in the Moving Image Department. This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services: Grant #MA-245614-OMS-20. Visit www.imls.gov. Learn more about the grant in our previous post: Cinema Refugees: Conserving and Preserving South Asian Film.

Recently, we were honored to give a talk entitled “In Focus: Conserving South Asian Films at the George Eastman Museum,” in which we talked about our daily activities as film archivists, inspecting and cataloging our South Asian Cinema collections. We also showcased our workspace and discussed our progress with this Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant-funded project. You can find the recording of this on the Museum’s Youtube channel, or watch it below

We had so many great questions during the Q&A portion that we ran out of time to get to them all. We want to thank everyone for attending and engaging so thoughtfully. In case we did not get to a question live, we wanted to answer it here!

How long will this entire project take?

This project is part of a 26-month grant funded by the IMLS. We started in December 2020, so as of September 2021, we have 16 months left.

How long does it typically take to process a reel/film? What’s the longest it’s taken?

It depends on the condition of the film! For the films in the Indian Cinema Collection, which are typically in very good condition, we can inspect a film a day, and each film averages 8 reels. As for the Pakistani films, which present more challenges, we aim to each inspect 3 films a week. Sometimes we are only able to inspect one Pakistani reel a day, which would be the longest it has taken. That said, we’re still on track to finish on time.

Of the total Indian films, have you found all the Tamil language films (14 so far) or do you expect more titles in the remaining 4000 reels?

We absolutely expect to find more Tamil language films before we finish. We also expect to find more in Telugu and a few in the other languages spoken in India.

The number of films still in need of inspection in the following non-Hindi languages are:

• Tamil: 26
• Telugu: 28
• Punjabi: 17
• Malayalam: 3
• Marathi: 1
• Bengali: 1

What is the earliest film you have worked with?

This is actually a trick question! There are lots of ways to answer this question.

For the Indian cinema collection, we have to distinguish between the oldest film as an object, which would the 1997 film Hameshaa, directed by Sanjay Gupta, and the oldest film based on the original production, which would be the 2004 colorized re-release of 1960 film Mughal-e-Azam, directed by K. Asif. Additionally, the oldest Hindi language film we have found in the Pakistani collection is the 1961 film Tel Malish Boot Polish, directed by Romney Dey.

For the Pakistani collection, the oldest film we have worked with is a 1955 film called Toofan, directed by Haider Shah. This is a black and white, Urdu language film on acetate stock. However, as we continue working with the collection, we may identify films that are even older!

We have found no nitrate in the collection and do not expect to do so.

What happens to film as it ages? How do you help slow this process?

First, we would like to emphasize that when film is properly stored in cool and dry conditions, it can retain its original qualities for many, many years. Proper storage is the main way to slow the process of decay. Our vault is kept at 50 degrees and 40% humidity. This falls within the optimal range but the most ideal conditions are 40 degrees and 30% humidity.

Second, depending on the base of the film, it will deteriorate in different ways.

The oldest type of stock is nitrate. Due to its chemical composition, nitrate film stock is self-emulating which means when it burns it creates its own oxygen and therefore cannot be put out which was problematic and caused many fires in movie theaters. As nitrate decomposes, it becomes more unstable and thus likely to burn.

The South Asian collections we deal with consist of two types of film base: Acetate and Polyester. Acetate film stock started being used in the 1950s for theatrical releases to replace nitrate. Acetate was always used for amateur and home movies which are usually small gauge films, referring to anything non-theatrical 35mm film prints.

The Pakistani collection is mainly acetate or more commonly referred to as “safety stock,” because it does not burn as easily. As acetate film stock ages, it has been found to both shrink, which is caused by water loss, and chemically decay which is known as Vinegar Syndrome for the chemical smell which is given off. We use test strips on acetate film which will change color to indicate the level of vinegar buildup, as you can see from the picture of a film print inspected early this year. YELLOW IS BAD and Blue is good! Nitrate does not exhibit Vinegar Syndrome.

The Indian collection is on polyester stock. Polyester film stock became popular in the 1990s and was subsequently used for all contemporary theatrical releases until digital projection became the norm. As the newest type of film stock, polyester does not chemically decay as far as archivists and chemical labs have tested.

What would you say has been your biggest challenge so far in processing this collection?

When processing the Pakistani collection the biggest challenge we face is dealing with and processing the fragments found with the films in the cans. When we open a can of Pakistani film, we never know the extent of the fragments or the condition of the fragments. Some don’t have any and some fill up more cans to be processed with the film in the workroom.

The first thing we need to do when dealing with fragments is to determine whether or not they go with the film we found them with. Do they match the film itself: are they black and white, color, have the same edge code, or have the same actors? If this all matches up, is there an online copy of the film which we can skim through in order to determine if we can initially place the fragments within the film and even within a specific reel? Once we have determined if the fragments are part of our object we usually place them in archival envelopes which we place in the cans with the film itself. We often do not replace these fragments within the film object itself because it might damage the film further. However, these fragments can be digitized at a later stage and reinserted digitally if necessary. For unidentified fragments or fragments that do not belong to the film, we store them separately to be identified at a later date.

For the Indian collection, the biggest hurdle we face is when we will get new, archival cans. When we are able to get our full supply of archival cans (currently back-ordered due to a steel shortage due to Covid-19), we will need to take the time to re-house all of the 500+ films we have already inspected and cataloged, and then place them in their permanent location on our shelving units. At approximately 8 reels of film per movie, we estimate this will take quite some time!

Are the popular cultural attributes of the fragments (objects separated from the films) going to be studied?

Once we get to the end of the project and have been able to identify everything in our collection, we hope to match the remaining unidentified fragments with their film, so they can be studied as part of the whole.

We loved getting all your questions and the sense of what people are interested in relating to these collections. As we learn more about these collections we will continue to share interesting finds, photos, and stories through our future blog posts.