FHF director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur at BAVASS
The 25th edition of the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival will open on April 23, with Indian filmmaker, producer and archivist Shivendra Singh Dungarpur on the jury, underscoring India’s growing presence in global film preservation.Dungarpur, director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, founded the Film Heritage Foundation in 2014 to safeguard India’s cinematic legacy, and serves on the artistic committee of the Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival. In June 2025, he received the Vittorio Boarini Award from the Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna, recognizing his contribution to the preservation and restoration of cinema. He will be joined on the jury by Barbara Gasser, vice president of the Austrian Film Critics Guild (AFCG/FIPRESCI), and Jean-Michel Frodon, a journalist and film critic, who wrote for daily Le Monde, and was the editorial director of Cahiers du Cinéma.In a notable showcase of Indian cinema, the Déjà Vu section will feature six restored Indian films – Do Bigha Zamin, Manthan, Aranyer Din Ratri, Sholay, The Girls and Circus Tent – all restored by Dungarpur and the Film Heritage Foundation. Their inclusion marks a significant moment for India, bringing restored works of its cinematic heritage to an international audience and reflecting the country’s expanding role in global film restoration efforts.
“Déjà Vu, our long-standing parallel cinephile section, is filled with nocturnal dramas, secrets, lies and delusions worth revisiting or discovering,” said Gloria Benito, a programmer at the festival. “Preserving our cinematographic legacy also means safeguarding our historical memory – understanding how past events have shaped lives and continue to define who we are.”The festival opens with a screening of Faust by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, a landmark of German Expressionism, nearly a century after its premiere. The silent classic will be accompanied by a live performance from the Tenerife-based progressive rock band GAF y La Estrella de la Muerte, and will also inaugurate the Camera Obscura section.
