NFAI to present Dada Saheb Phalke's 'Kalia Mardan' at IFFI 2008

Panaji, Nov 5 (UNI) The National Film Archives of India, Pune, will be presenting a unique viewing experience for cinegoers attending the 39th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in the form of DadaSaheb Phalke's silent masterpiece ''Kalia Mardan'' with live musical accompaniment.

The film, one of the earliest silent movies made in 1919, will be screened on November 23 at the festival venue in the capital city.

The NFAI Director Vijay Jadhav said NFAI will also be presenting treasures from Archives, under which internationally acclaimed Indian films made before 1950 will be showcased. The 75-year-old ''Karma'', the first international production by Himamshu Rai, will be be part of this package. ''Sant Tukaram'', ''Journey of Dr Kotnis'', ''Neecha'', ''Nagar'' and ''Kalpana'' are the other films from the NFAI treasures, he added.

An exhibition of wall posters and photographs on the theme of nation building will also be mounted to convey the role of cinema in entertaining and educating the masses. The representative collection of wall posters, published in a book form, will be released during the event.

Mr Jhadav said through all these programmes, the National Film Archives of India aims to find a place in the minds of film enthusiasts as a major resource centre, safeguarding the film heritage for posterity and dissemination of film culture.

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