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Head lines
Personality Pallab Bhattacharya, New Delhi, The Daily Star Rich compliments rained on Shyam Benegal, one of the most outstanding film-makers in India's parallel cinema circuit, on the evening of August 29. The occasion was the release of a book that traces Benegal's career spanning over four decades. It was an expression of gratitude by lovers of meaningful cinema to a man who right from his first feature film "Ankur" in 1974 to his latest "Zubeidaa" in 2000 has explored the conflicts and flux in society. It was a fitting tribute to Benegal who has made feature films, two feature length documentaries on India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and master film-maker Satyajit Ray who has had strong influence on Benegal, and a mega television serial based on Nehru's famous book "Discovery of India" in the last three decades. Among the subjects dealt with, by the 64-year-old Benegal, in films like "Ankur", "Nishaant," "Manthan" and "Bhumika" are exploitation of women, feudalism in industrial or royal household and hurdles and development of workers' cooperatives. A sizable portion of Benegal's focuses on the struggle of women, trying to make their voices heard, against all forms of society and films like "Ankur", "Bhumika", "Nishaant", "Manthan", "Mandi" and "Sardari Begum" are examples of that. To Benegal also goes the credit of bringing out the acting talent of the likes of Shabana Azmi, who made film debut in "Ankur", Smita Patil, Om Puri, and Naseeruddin Shah as they put up an impressive performance in a number of films directed by him. Whether as an art film-maker for thirteen years or as a director of feature films, Benegal's mission has remained unaltered, to reach out to the audience the way he wants to. And in this, he never made any compromise. What is remarkable about Benegal is that he is one of the few directors to have not only survived, but also flourished in Bollywood. These films were difficult to attract funds in an industry, where the mainstream cinema is steeped in commercialism. "The fact is that I have always done things I have wanted to do, without considering the demand-supply factor. This is the reason why I have survived in the film industry for as long as I have," Benegal told an interviewer. Benegal believes that film-makers must reflect the contemporary problems in society and one of the best examples of this finds reflected in his film "Kalyug" where the clash between two rival groups of industrial families was seen by critics as a transportation of the Mahabharata epic to modern times. Actor Victor Banerjee put up an impressive performance in the film. Three years ago, Benegal came out with another powerful social commentary on the evils of caste prejudices in Indian society through his film "Samar." It shows the problem is not confined among villagers but also among urban and educated. Concern with socially-relevant themes has not deflected Benegal's passion for period film and personalities. He is now busy shooting a feature film on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose titled "Netaji -- The Last Hero." It is expected to be release in January next. Publication of books by Benegal and holding of retrospectives of his films might be considered by some as symbolizing the twilight of a person's career. But it is not so, when it comes to Benegal. He is determined to direct as long as he can. And nothing could be better news for cinema. Preserving microfilms in scientific way JAHANGIR SELIM, The Independent Microfilm being the part of Micro-recording System, is a wonderful medium to preserve archival documents, manuscripts, books, documents and records to safeguard the history of mankind for ages. It is easily accessible for retrieving documents, easy to read with a 'reader', and also easy to make hard copies. But, we were surprised to see a news item published in a local English daily couple of months back that some portion of the processed microfilm of Central Library of Dhaka University were damaged within two decades of preservation. Preservation of valuable archival / important documents through microfilm is a scientific process, which is part of science and technology. As claimed by the Library authorities, humidity is the main factor for these damages. In the third world countries like Bangladesh, it is always experienced that technology comes rapidly but technical know-how is hardly disseminated. This is one of the business policies of the multi-national companies. This is equally true for donor countries and donor agencies. Under the aid agreement, the sophisticated or outdated equipment comes to our country. This process is sometimes accelerated by the so-called experts, consultants, commission / local agents. Long time back, microfilming system was introduced in our country. But no plan-wise documentation of national history has been done and still it is going on without proper need assessment/requirement from the national point of view. Notable success has been achieved in the field of photography without any support from government or others. This has been possible by the photographers through their devotion, integrity, relentless efforts, on the job learning etc. Photography is a vast subject and have hundreds of use and applications. Micro-recording system is one of the branches of photography. A micrographer should have sound/practical knowledge on B/W photography. Because this knowledge is the ABC of photography. Like in other fields, a micrographer needs special orientation / training for recording on microfilm, processing, preservation, maintenance and others. However, there is not a single such institution to teach or to impart knowledge on the subject. In spite of that a number of government institutions / organisations procured microrecording equipment. Again, as mentioned earlier they were hardly used. Over the period the machine goes out of order. It is seen that a few institutes / organisations are using the system and running operation without properly trained persons. They are somehow managing the routine work as they have some idea on photography. They never tried to find out the local expertise to get proper advice. Not only in the case of Dhaka University Library but the situation is also true for other institutions. A reliable source says that some processed microfilms of Press Institute of Bangladesh (PIB) are also damaged. Some glass plates (negatives) of the archeological sites of the then East Bengal, donated by the government of India after 1947 are also damaged due to inadequate care and maintenance. Loss of these irreplaceable items is the loss of national history and heritage. All these happened due to lack of proper knowledge of the micorgrapher and the head(s) of the institution(s) as well. It is observed that institution/ departmental head(s) never try to understand how to manage/handle post production of microfilms and hardly feel on the subject. The concerned authorities never think to develop the skill and knowledge of the technicians. It is equally true for the case of micro-recording system. As a result, expertise did not develop, although some are working in this particular field for a long time. It is worth mentioning that all public universities offer graduation and masters courses on information science and library management. Latter on these students work as librarians. But they are hardly aware of post operations of micro-recording system. Most of the University Libraries are headed by a professor. Managing the library never gets first priority to him and also he is not aware of technical aspects. But the statement by the Professor/ Chief Librarian of Dhaka University blaming humidity for damage of the films is very much unfortunate. We are all aware of the presence of humidity in the atmosphere. It is only natural. Humidity creates problems for so many materials but damage to the microfilms is difficult to believe. There are some other reasons to cause damage to the films. Films are manufactured with light-sensitive materials- silver halide is placed on celluloid with the help of gelatin. After exposing, the film is processed through developer - water - fixer - water. The last stage is very important. The fixer (Sodium Thio Sulfate, Hypo) must be removed from the film through washing by running water at least an hour and followed by proper drying. Then there is no chance of decay. Presence of hypo in processed film will damage the film. If it is damaged by humidity then it can be detected easily as the fungus will be visible. It is possible to remove fungus, if it is not stuck while in roll. Too much humidity, damp/closed room or not used by anyone within 3-5 years or routine checking was not done at least once, then there is possibility of sticking. By this stage, the emulsion/images on the film is gone forever. But, without proper physical verification it is difficult to comment. In most of the cases in our country proper storage is absent. Usually worst places are selected for storage, even for films. Some degree of cold temperature is necessary. But without cold temperature the films/microfilms can be preserved for long time with proper care. Nowadays, there are some foreign made special file cabinets available, which can protect these from humidity and also from fire. A file cabinet can contain millions of pages in forms of micro-recording system. Even a dehumidifier can protect a room from moisture. Using dehumidifier means the room condition is always dry and maintains slightly hot temperature, which is good to keep processed films. There are even some air-conditioners built with dehumidifier. If either air-conditioner or dehumidifier is not provided in that case the microfilms should be checked from one end to another manually or by film inspector once in every three/four months. This process also will help for long time preservation. Another important aspect is that the master negative should not be used frequently by readers and others. While the master negative is used with reader, special care should be observed. During the time of handling, there is possibility for scratch on film(s). Normally positive microfilms are allowed to use by the reader. Producing microfilm negative is costly but at the same cost, several positives of microfilm can be done. These are preserved in many places and not in one place. In case of an accident, if one is damaged then other copies will remain. During cold war, both super powers preserved their archival/state secret documents several thousand feet under the ground. And still, those are there. More or less different kinds of technologies are available in the country. But technical know how is not flourishing due to lack of proper attention of the policy planners, technocrats, bureaucrats, and others as they themselves are lacking in knowledge, farsightedness and positive thinking. University authorities also fall in this category. Why is the library under serious threat? How will a researchers/students collect knowledge/information if the condition of the leading university is like this? Writer is the audio-visual expert of CIRDAP and former microfilm in-charge of The Bangladesh Observer. |
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