Phnom Penh, Jun 2 (IANS): The first international film heritage festival has kicked off here, aiming at encouraging interest in preserving classic films, Xinhua reported.

About 40 classic films from around the world will be viewed on 35 mm screening equipment at Chaktomuk Theater and the Bophana Centre for nine days, said Rithy Panh, president and founder of the Bophana Centre.

The festival began Saturday.

He said among the classics were two films produced by late Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk. They are "Apsara" (1965) and "Joy of Living" (1969).

Besides, there are classics from India, Japan, Argentina, France, Spain, the US, Germany, Russia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand.

"Films are endangered everywhere in the world if they are not well preserved," he said. "Over 90 percent of films around the world made before 1929 are lost forever."

He said as films were part of the memory of a nation and humanity, they needed to be taken care of - which means collecting them, searching for them if they are lost and preserving them in safe locations.