Martin Scorsese, George Lucas combine with Film Heritage Foundation to restore Kannada classic ‘Ghatashraddha’

Poster of ‘Ghatashraddha’.
| Photo Credit: IMDB

Martin Scorsese and George Lucas have teamed up with Film Heritage Foundation (FHF) to restore Girish Kasaravalli’s Ghatashraddha, reported Variety. The 1977 Kannada film is based on well-known writer and critic U R Ananthamurthy’s novel.

Ghatashraddha, Kasaravalli’s debut, released in 1977 and bagged three National Awards. Led by archivist and filmmaker Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, the restoration will be done at L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, Italy. The project is supported by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project, founded by Martin Scorsese and funded by George Luas and his wife Mellody Hobson.

Filmmaker Girish Kasaravall.
| Photo Credit:
Sudhakara Jain

Variety reported that source element for the restoration is the original camera negative preserved at the National Film Development Corporation-National Film Archive of India. The restoration is set to be completed in time for the film’s 50th anniversary.

Kasaravalli, one of the pioneers of the Kannada parallel cinema movement, has made acclaimed films such as Tabarana Kathe (1987), Thaayi Saheba (1997), Dweepa (2002) and Gulabi Talkies (2008). Ghatashraddha describes the exclusion faced by a young woman who transgresses the strict sexual code of a conservative society.

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“The fact that my film has been selected for restoration by none other than these doyens among filmmakers, is a matter of pride and great honor,” Kasaravalli told Variety. “I am thankful to Mr. Scorsese and World Cinema Project and Mr. George Lucas and Mrs. Mellody Hobson and Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.”