NEW DELHI: A unique digital Film Archive has been launched in Panaji working on the digital asset management technology with classic films that can be viewed at the click of a button.

Inaugurating the Archive, Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat said that though it was beginning with just over 150 films, the aim was to ultimately increase the capacity to 10,000.

An initiative of the Entertainment Society of Goa to provide the latest in cinematic art, the Archive is supported by the National Informatics Centre - Goa. The inauguration is followed by the Demo of the technology.

It will provide production updates, technical knowhow, old classics, film encyclopaedia etc. and is not only textual but also visual. Aiming to have the biggest collection of Indian and foreign film classics, the archive currently begins with over 150 films and over 300 film books and periodicals.

ESG Chief Executive Officer Manoj Srivastava told indiantelevision.com over a telephonic interview that the Archive has over 200 film books and periodicals. Magazines like Screen International, Variety etc., and brochures of most International Film Festival are available. The Encyclopedias of films are the knowledge power house of cinema.

The salient feature of this Archive is the Digital Film Archive. The films of the archive can be viewed with a click of a button. Presently, the Digital Film archive has over 130 films including all the Short Film Centre films of 2008.

The film Archive is open to the members of Goa Cinephile. The general public can also gain entry with an entry fee of Rs 50 per day to view the Digitally Archived films. The ESG Film Archive is only a reference Library.

The inauguration was followed by the screening of the Golden Lamp Tree Award winner of the Short Film Centre - 2008 “Plot Point”, a Belgian film by Nicholas Provosi.