New Delhi, Sep 26 (IANS): Introducing the intricacies of Westerns and celebrating the cult of cowboys and American culture are the highlights of ongoing Western Film Festival here.

The three-day event that began Thursday with Fred Zinnemann's "High Noon", has been organised by American Centre in collaboration with Cinedarbaar, a film appreciation club.

"Western genre often depicts conflicts with native Americans and generally takes place in the post-Civil War era, raising a number of important issues about the nature of American society," said a statement.

"Cowboys play a prominent role in western movies. The open landscapes and distinctive western clothing (denim, jeans, boots, etc.) are the persistent theme of Western movies showcasing American culture set between 1850's and 1990," it said.

And these cultural nuances will be presented through a slew of movies that have diverse themes in the backdrop.

A 1962 film "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" is about a senator, who became famous for killing a notorious outlaw, returns for the funeral of an old friend and tells the truth about his deed.

Two classics from 1969 - "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "The Wild Bunch" - will explore two different themes.

Whereas "Unforgiven" (1992) is about a retired William Munny who reluctantly takes on one last job, with the help of his old partner and a young man.

These movies will be screened Saturday.

Each screenings will be followed by a panel discussion where topics like "introduction to Western genre and its history", "cinematography and technical details", "key actors contributing to the evolution of the genre" and "western genre's contribution to the world cinema" particularly in Italy will be explained in detail.