September 1, 1994 Contact: Barbara McKenna (408/459-2495)

FORD FOUNDATION GRANT SUPPORTS UC SANTA CRUZ PROJECT TO PRESERVE WORKS OF RENOWNED FILMMAKER

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ, CA--The Ray Film and Study Collection (Ray-FASC) at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has received a two-year $150,000 grant from the Ford Foundation that will be used as part of a unique international collaboration to preserve the films of one of the world's most respected filmmakers.

The aim of the project--being done in partnership with the Calcutta-based Society for the Preservation of the Films of Satyajit Ray--is to acquire, restore, and archive the 40-plus films, documentaries, and shorts of Satyajit Ray, an Oscar-winning Indian filmmaker who died in 1992.

"Without quick action these works will deteriorate, and some of the greatest films in the world will be lost for all time," says Dilip Basu, an associate professor of history at UCSC and founding director of Ray-FASC.

According to Basu, a total of $3 million will be needed to fund the entire film restoration project. The restoration work will take place in the U.S. and India and will serve two functions--the preservation of the films and the training of Indian technicians in state-of-the-art film restoration techniques. Once the films are restored, complete sets will be archived in the U.S. and India.

Two sets of viewing prints and videotapes will be made from the archived copies. One set will be housed in the Ray-FASC archive at Special Collections in UCSC's McHenry Library, while the other will reside in the Nandan-West Bengal Film Center in Calcutta. The Ford Foundation grant provides the funding necessary for UCSC to acquire the films, and also supplies funding for administrative support for Ray-FASC.

Future Ray-FASC projects include the microfilming of Ray's personal and working papers and the translation of twelve of his screenplays from Bengali into English.

The Ford Foundation, headquartered in New York City, is a private nonprofit philanthropic organization. Since it was established in 1936, the foundation has granted more than $8 billion to some 9,000 institutions and 100,000 individuals throughout the world.

To: Dilip Basu From: Barbara McKenna Fax: 423-6553 459-2495 1 page, sent 8/25 at 4 p.m. Dilip, Since I sent you the original this morning I have talked with Richard. This latest version includes his changes. Once you and I make your final changes, I can send this out. I will be in the office most of the day Monday, except for a 10 a.m. meeting. --Barbara

Press Releases Home | Search Press Releases | Press Release Archive | Services for Journalists

Maintained by:pioweb@cats.ucsc.edu