Kuala lumpur: The National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS) is breathing new life into the nation's visual heritage by digitising and restoring 150 hours of vintage documentaries and docudramas in 4K resolution. FINAS chief executive officer Datuk Azmir Saifuddin Mutalib said the initiative not only safeguarded audiovisual materials from deterioration, but also helped preserve footage capturing the faces, voices and journey of Malaysia for future generations.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Azmir Saifuddin noted that the value of the audiovisual collection extended far beyond its original informational purpose, as it provided a visual record of the lives, culture, development, and societal challenges of a bygone era. 'This nation's visual archive keeps the faces, voices and story of Malaysia alive, allowing them to be viewed, studied and understood. That is why this restoration work is not just a technical task, but also a responsibility to preserve the nation's memory,' he said while officiating the Special Screening and Appreciation Session for the Restoration of National Heritage Audiovisual Collections at Menara FINAS here today.
Azmir Saifuddin explained that the Digitised Malaysia History (DMH) project, carried out over 96 weeks, underscored the importance of human expertise in restoring historical materials while preserving their original condition and authenticity. 'Technology is a vital tool, but the success of restoration ultimately depends on people, their trained eyes, knowledge of the original materials and a sense of responsibility towards history,' he said.
He added that FINAS would continue to preserve the original materials even after digitisation, ensuring the collection remained available for future reference. 'Although we digitise these materials, we keep the originals so that the content can be reproduced in 2K, 4K and 8K resolutions,' he said.
Azmir Saifuddin highlighted that the initiative would enable the nation's audiovisual collection to be utilised more widely for education, research, exhibitions, public screening, and commercial purposes, subject to copyright and ownership considerations. Three restored works, Tunku Visit Sabah, Timeless Temiar and Tongkat Hitam were screened during the session, which also featured sharing sessions by animator, film director, writer and critic Hassan Abd Muthalib, known as the 'Father of Malaysian Animation', and head of the Archive Management Unit at the FINAS Laboratory Division Nyoh Austine Sidai.
Azmir Saifuddin concluded by stating that FINAS would continue to strengthen efforts to catalogue and preserve audiovisual collections, while enhancing its technical capabilities and expanding collaboration with agencies, educational institutions, rights holders, experts and industry players. 'We want these treasures to be shared with all Malaysians, especially future generations,' he said.