A conversation that began in 2020 across three continents is finally nearing its conclusion. Malayalam master G Aravindan’s fourth feature ...
A conversation that began in 2020 across three continents is finally nearing its conclusion. Malayalam master G Aravindan’s fourth feature Kummatty (1979) is in the final stages of restoration by the World Cinema Foundation in the US, India’s Film Heritage Foundation and the Italian archive Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna.
A team of 20 people at L’Immagine Ritrovata – the reputed restoration laboratory in Bologna, Italy – has been working on the project for the past four months. The completed film is scheduled to be premiered on July 25 at the Il Cinema Ritrovato festival, which showcases classics and restored titles.
“It all began because of my partnership with the World Cinema Project,” said Film Heritage Foundation founder Shivendra Singh Dungarpur. The World Cinema Project, instituted by Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Foundation, focuses on restoring and preserving forgotten or neglected classics. In 2012, Dungarpur and Scorsese had previously collaborated to restore Uday Shankar’s Kalpana, made in 1948.
“They asked me which film we would like to restore and partner on next,” Dungarpur told Scroll.in. “I mentioned Aravindan, since he is someone who hasn’t gotten his due.”
Dungarpur and Scorsese are also teaming up on Thampu, Aravindan’s black-and-white classic from 1978 about the workings of a circus.
“Aravindan was a visionary director and Kummatty is considered among his greatest work,” Scorsese said...
