KOLKATA: Filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s masterpiece Pather Panchali’s 50th anniversary will be celebrated in 2006 with the launch of a unique calendar and CD-ROM chronicling the golden history of Bengali films. StudioForsee, the producers of the calendar and CD-ROM, plan to give a substantial part of sales proceeds to Eastern India Cinetel Welfare Trust, which helps needy film artistes and technicians.

“The calendar celebrates the golden jubilee of Pather Panchali, which put Bengali cinema on the world map.

It will document all the major film awards, national and international, won by films made in Bengal,” said a spokesperson for StudioForsee.

“Significant comments by critics, Bengali writers and artists, quoted in the pages of the calendar, carefully chosen stills of films, the reproduction of posters, advertisements, and portraits of directors and technicians at work will recapture and revive memories of the film masterpieces.”

The CD-ROM, with a large accumulation of facts and images, will be the first mini encyclopaedia of Bengali cinema made in West Bengal. It will be available in Bengali, Hindi and English, and will feature biographical information on directors, actors and technicians.

“It will be an account of Bengali cinema registering and establishing its distinctive identity marked by humanism, its natural musicality, and its rich interplay of acting styles,” the spokesperson said.