Chennai studio to restore 600 Egyptian films

A whopping 600 Egyptian films dating from the 1920s’ are to be brought back to life by a Chennai-based film laboratory.

“A substantial share of the national cinematic heritage of Egypt is lying in ruins,” Rontana’s Egypt head and technical director Tarek Gabali said at a seminar on Film Restoration and Film Heritage Policies organised by the Cairo film festival. Under the project, which was awarded to Chennai-based Prasad Lab, 110 films have already been restored since work began in January this year. “It is cost-effective to restore films in India compared to Europe,” said Gabali, who heads the film library of Rontana, whose television channels beam Arabic content including films to millions of homes in the Arab-speaking world. The cost of a 2K restoration costs up to 20,000 euro (approximately Rs 14 lakh) while it is in the range of 60,000-80,000 euro (approximately Rs 43 lakh to Rs 57 lakh) in European labs.