UNESCO Awarded Thai National Film Archives at Phuket Film Festival
30-10-2007 (Bangkok)
Cover of the DVD release
© Thai Film Foundation
On 21 October, at the occasion of The Phuket Film Festival in Thailand, UNESCO presented the Minister of Culture, H.E. Mrs. Si-Arun Khaisi, with a Fellini Silver Medal Award and a certificate of commendation for the Thai National Film Archives’ excellent work within UNESCO’s Memory of the World programme.
The award was givent to Thai National Film Archives in recognition for its excellent preservation and access work over the years. The Fellini Silver Medal is given for outstanding achievements. When Italian director Federico Fellini died in 1993, UNESCO’s Member States had just adopted a General Conference resolution calling for the safeguarding of the cinematographic heritage. An appeal was launched to the international community inviting governments, industry and the public to participate in a campaign to keep the seventh art alive. The Fellini medal, unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1994, therefore had a double significance: to honour the director’s tremendous contribution to film as an art form and to commemorate the centenary of the birth of cinema (1895-1995).
The award was presented at the Phuket Film Festival where one of the objectives was to raise awareness amongst Asian film makers for the need for preservation and proper archiving of audiovisual cultural and historical attributes. The film festival was initiated by the Thai epic "The King of the White Elephant" preserved by the Thai National Film Archive under the Ministry of Culture.
The Memory of the World programme is concerned with the preservation of documentary heritage which is the written word on paper, palm leaves or stone and audiovisual materials including films. These documents may reflect a period of momentous change in world affairs or make an outstanding contribution to our understanding of the world at a particularly important time in history.
Access too is another important facet because if we do not preserve, there is no access or memory. Raising awareness is also crucial because without it we will not think about the importance of preserving our documentary heritage as part of our cultural heritage.
However, communities, governments and international bodies like UNESCO cannot preserve these documentary memories without help. If care is not taken they could easily disappear, just like the Seven Wonders of the Ancient world. The Memory of the World documents provide us with a glimpse into what went on in and around the cultural places in the past, and why this is important for us even to this day.
In Asia and the Pacific, the regional body, Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific (MOWCAP), emphasizes to governments the importance of the Memory of the World programme. Countries can show their patronage by creating national committees, just as Thailand has done with the Thai National Committee for the Memory of the World.
The award was presented at the Phuket Film Festival where one of the objectives was to raise awareness amongst Asian film makers for the need for preservation and proper archiving of audiovisual cultural and historical attributes. The film festival was initiated by the Thai epic "The King of the White Elephant" preserved by the Thai National Film Archive under the Ministry of Culture.
The Memory of the World programme is concerned with the preservation of documentary heritage which is the written word on paper, palm leaves or stone and audiovisual materials including films. These documents may reflect a period of momentous change in world affairs or make an outstanding contribution to our understanding of the world at a particularly important time in history.
Access too is another important facet because if we do not preserve, there is no access or memory. Raising awareness is also crucial because without it we will not think about the importance of preserving our documentary heritage as part of our cultural heritage.
However, communities, governments and international bodies like UNESCO cannot preserve these documentary memories without help. If care is not taken they could easily disappear, just like the Seven Wonders of the Ancient world. The Memory of the World documents provide us with a glimpse into what went on in and around the cultural places in the past, and why this is important for us even to this day.
In Asia and the Pacific, the regional body, Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific (MOWCAP), emphasizes to governments the importance of the Memory of the World programme. Countries can show their patronage by creating national committees, just as Thailand has done with the Thai National Committee for the Memory of the World.
The 50th anniversary posterRelated themes/countries
· Thailand
· Memory of the World: News archives 2007
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