Amitabh Bachchan has been selected as the recipient of the 2021 International Federation of Film Archives award for his contribution to the preservation of world cinema. The award will be presented in a virtual ceremony marked by the presence of Hollywood filmmakers Christopher Nolan and Martin Scorsese, both previous recipients of the award. The FIAF was founded by filmmaker and archivist Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, and Amitabh Bachchan is the first Indian to win this prestigious award.
"I am greatly honoured to receive this award for a cause that I am deeply committed to," the Bollywood actor was quoted as saying in the Times of India. "When I became the ambassador of the Film Heritage Foundation in 2015, I realised the extent of the neglect and colossal loss of our precious film heritage...I have been working closely with them to do everything in our power to save our films and build a movement for film preservation in our part of the world. We must strengthen the idea that film archiving is as essential as filmmaking."
Bachchan went on to say he hoped to garner further support for this cause from the film industry and the government to build a centre that will preserve and showcase Indian films and their heritage and history.
Scorsese lauded Bachchan's 'exceptional' film career and said that the jury could not have chosen a "more deserving individual to recognise this year." Christopher Nolan's statement also stressed the importance of international representation in film preservation.
"There could be no better recipient than one of the world's greatest movie stars and one who has understood, embraced, and publicised the cause of film preservation for years," said Fredéric Mair, president of FIAF. "We want to publicly thank him for his role as a high-profile advocate for film heritage in India and beyond."