Mumbai / November 5, 2008 

The National Film Archives of India, Pune will be presenting an unique viewing experience for the cine goers attending the 39th International Film Festival of India, IFFI 2008, in the form of Dada Saheb Phalke’s silent master piece ‘Kalia Mardan’ with live musical accompaniment.  The film, one of the earliest silent movies made in 1919, will be screened on November 23, 2008 at the festival venue in Panaji, Goa.

Giving details of NFAI’s participation in IFFI 2008, its Director, Mr Vijay Jadhav said “NFAI will also be presenting ‘Treasures from Archives’ under which internationally acclaimed Indian films made before 1950 will be showcased.” 75 year old ‘Karma’ the first international production by Himanshu Rai will 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 IFFI 2008.

Commenting upon the role of NFAI, Mr Jadhav said  ”through all these programmes, the National Film Archive of India, aims to  find a place in the minds of film enthusiasts as a major  resource centre, safeguarding the film heritage for the posterity and dissemination of film culture.”

RAJENDRA JOSHI