New prints of the three films of cine craftsman Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy preserved by the Archives of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are to be screened by the Academy which gave him a lifetime achievement award.

Actress Sharmila Tagore (Apur Sansar) and Dilip Basu, Founding Director of the Satyajit Ray Film and Study Center collection at the University of California, will be present as special guests for the screenings.

Pather Panchali and Aparajito will be screened on 6 September while Apur Sansar will be screened on 9 September at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Satyajit Ray received an Honorary Award from the Academy in 1992 in recognition of his rare mastery of the art of motion pictures, and of his profound humanitarian outlook, which has had an indelible influence on filmmakers and audiences throughout the world.

The Academy Film Archive’s Satyajit Ray Preservation Project is an ongoing effort to preserve and restore Ray’s entire filmography. It began in 1992, after the producers of the Oscar telecast, who were gathering clips for the presentation of Ray’s Honorary Award, discovered that there were very few prints or video masters of Ray’s films in the US and that they were incomplete and in poor condition.

Earlier, Ray has been honoured this year by screening of his films at the Toronto Film Festival and the British Film Institute which is currently also hosting an exhibition of posters by him.