Hollywood legend, Martin Scorsese announces plans to restore more than 50 African films

Legendary Hollywood filmmaker, Martin Scorsese has announced the African Film Heritage Project which has been created to locate, restore and preserve African films which are either lost in history or not easily discoverable.

The Film Foundation, Scorsese’s nonprofit organisation which plans to work through its World Cinema Project in partnership with the Pan African Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACI) and UNESCO, has helped restore more than 750 films since its establishment in 1990.

Scorsese said about the project, ‘There are so many films in need of restoration from all over the world. We created the World Cinema Project to ensure that the most vulnerable titles don’t disappear forever. Over the past 10 years, the WCP has helped to restore films from Egypt, India, Cuba, the Philippines, Brazil, Armenia, Turkey, Senegal, and many other countries.’

‘Along the way, we’ve come to understand the urgent need to locate and preserve African films title by title in order to ensure that new generations of film goers — African filmgoers in particular — can actually see these works and appreciate them. FEPACI is dedicated to the cause of African Cinema, UNESCO has led the way in the protection and preservation of culture, and I’m pleased to be working in partnership with both organisations on this important and very special initiative,’ he continued.

It will be recalled that on December 15, 2016 at the 20th remembrance of his late father Adeyemi Afolayan (Ade Love), celebrated Nollywood filmmaker, Kunle Afolayan lamented how many of Ade Love’s films were stuck in film studios in England because he couldn’t afford enough money to restore them.

The first 50 films to be restored by the African Film Heritage Project have not been named yet.

This post first appeared on TNS.

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