Kolkata schools to celebrate 50 years of 'The Sound of Music'

Fifty years after it first captivated audiences globally, iconic Hollywood film "The Sound of Music" has remained evergreen. To celebrate its golden jubilee, school children across the city will celebrate various aspects of the movie in 'The Edelweiss Festival'.

To commemorate the film, 17 Kolkata schools will participate in the festival highlighting various sides of the movie in an innovative manner during June 16-17 at the Kala Mandir auditorium.

Winner of five Oscars, "The Sound of Music" starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer released to internal acclaim in 1965.

Based on the real life story of the famed von Trapp family singers of Austria, the cult film gave the world memorable melodies like "My Favourite Things", "Do Re Mi" and "Edelweiss" to hum for decades to come.

Organised by the Ashok Hall Group of Schools, in association with the Austrian embassy in India, the event will begin with a choral presentation by performers from Vienna and a pageant depicting characters from the movie.

Students will celebrate the essence of the musical through an inter-school competition on instrumental music based on the film's compositions and speech contests on the scenes and human values portrayed in the classic.

School-goers will tap into their acting skills for a skit competition and put their thinking caps on to create a video montage of films in other languages that have been influenced by the "The Sound of Music".

Songs from the film will also be performed by the participants.

Austrian Ambassador Bernhardh Wrabetz, and Michael Heinz, director of the Austrian Cultural Forum, are scheduled to attend the gala, organisers said.