From Darkness Into Light: Perspectives on Film Preservation and Restoration is the first-of-its-kind record of India’s cinematic legacy. Commissioned by the Film Heritage Foundation, it presents articles by some of the world’s leading preservation experts and archivists, and showcases 60 endangered Indian film classics.
It is a simple, stark book, reminiscent of the Black & White era in film. Printed with a special silver that finds echoes in pre-1950 motion picture history, the cover image communicates dual ideas of beauty and decay. We paid homage to India’s moving picture history with a coffee table book that juxtaposed the old with the new, the classical and the contemporary.
Legibility is the focus of the overall type design. The body copy is classical and easy-on-the-eye, with contemporary, bold headlines, following through on the theme of duality. Large tracts of text find balance against larger images, while photo essays separate the different sections. The objects of these photo essays are frames from endangered films, and the recurring idea of the fragility of art.
