Veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan will become the first Indian to be conferred with the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) award for his contribution to the preservation of India's film heritage.
Big B was nominated by the Film Heritage Foundation. Bachchan has been an ambassador for the organisation since 2015. Talking about the recognition, Bachchan said in a statement that he is ‘greatly honoured’.
“I am greatly honoured to receive the FIAF Award for the year 2021 for a cause that I am deeply committed to. It was when I became the ambassador of Film Heritage Foundation in 2015 that I realized the extent of the neglect and colossal loss of our precious film heritage and how we continue to lose more of our legacy every day.”Amitabh Bachchan, Veteran actor
The event will take place virtually on 19 March and legendary filmmakers Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan will confer the award on Bachchan. Both Scorsese and Nolan have received the award earlier in 2001 and 2017 respectively.
Scorsese believes that Bachchan is the ideal nominee, “With a career spanning over five decades, he is a celebrated actor who has put the considerable weight of his reputation behind the cause of film preservation in India and the entire subcontinent... They could not have chosen a more deserving individual to recognize this year", he said in a statement.
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