NEW DELHI: A screening of the silent film ‘Throw of Dice’ to the accompaniment of live music orchestra by maestro Nishat Khan will mark the opening of a special festival being held next week to mark the centenary of Indian cinema.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari will inaugurate the festival and also an exhibition on “Indian Cinema 100 (Celebrating a Century: An Audio Visual Voyage)”.

The six-day festival will commence on 25 April and conclude on 30 April with a play on the life and times of Dadasaheb Phalke by Aamir Raza Hussain.

The festival is being held at the Siri Fort auditorium as well as other venues such as Jamia Milia Islamia University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and India Habitat Center in an effort to bring the festival to the doorstep of film lovers in the capital.

The extravaganza will include screenings of some classics as well as contemporary Indian films by master directors such as Bimal Roy, Guru Dutt, Shyam Benegal, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and others.

The festival will also pay tribute to some of the finest actors of popular Indian cinema, who are no longer alive, through the screening of their films. They include Balraj Sahni, Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor, and Rajesh Khanna among others. The films being screened represent a sprinkling of various flavours of Indian cinema from major film producing regions of the country.

Eminent filmmakers and actors have been invited to interact with the audiences over the course of the six day festival.

A key highlight of the festival includes a special “Satyajit Ray Retrospective” and display the artwork of the cine craftsman of Indian cinema.

Films Division will showcase documentaries which have captured on celluloid post-Independent India in all its myriad perspectives through gems out of its rich archives, such as news reels, documentaries, shorts, features and animation films on diverse subjects.

Another key highlight of the festival is “Cut-Uncut,” a three-day workshop conceived and being executed by members of the Central Board of Film Certification. This event will showcase the growth and evolution of censorship in Indian cinema, through workshops and insightful panel discussions.

The Centenary celebrations would culminate in the National Film Awards ceremony at Vigyan Bhavan on 3 May, including the presentation of the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award on thespian Pran by President Pranab Mukherjee.