Kannada film Ghatashraddha will be restored by the foundations of Martin Scorsese (The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project) and George Lucas (Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation) at L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, Italy. It is in collaboration with the Film Heritage Foundation (FHF). The source material for the restoration will be the original camera negative preserved at the NFAI (National Film Archive of India).

Earlier, FHF had collaborated with The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project to restore Aravindan Govindan’s milestone Malayalam films Kummatty (1979) and Thamp (1978).

Girish Kasaravalli, director of the film, says, “Ghatashraddha marked my debut as a filmmaker in 1976. The fact that my film has been selected for restoration by the doyens among filmmakers is a matter of pride and great honour. It is heartening to know that the restoration work on the film will be completed well before 2026, which marks the 50th anniversary of its making. I can’t wait to see the restored version of my film in all its beauty.”

Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, director of the Film Heritage Foundation, says that they have been working on restoring films from every region of the country with a special focus on artistic regional films.

He adds, “While we are also involved with restorations of major films like Sholay and Bimal Roy’s films, we are also working on the restoration of Shyam Benegal’s Manthan. With 14 National Awards to his credit, Girish Kasaravalli’s film was an obvious next choice for us to propose for restoration to the World Cinema Project.”