BANGKOK, 26 April 2011 – The Ministry of Culture has launched two projects encouraging people to donate and help preserve old films as national cultural heritages for the younger generation.
Speaking upon the launch of the projects, Culture Minister Nipit Intarasombat elaborated that the ‘Don’t Throw Away Films’ and ‘Film Rescuers’ projects are intended to promote Thai people’s awareness in the value and importance of old movies.
The minister expressed his concerns that old films are fading away from the Thai society despite its historical and cultural significance because of massive disposal by ignorant people plus greater popularity for digital movies.
Mr Nipit also explained that the film rescuers will be dispatched to search for old feature films and related items to be collected and retained into good condition for proper storage. People possessing old movies can donate them to the Thai Film Archive by dialing 02-482-2013 Ext 119.
As for the planned merger of the film and video promotion unit of the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture with the Thai Film Archive, the minister said a working panel has been set up to draw up details of the procedure and amend related laws. The procedure is expected to be completed within six months.
