Hardly a day goes by when villagers don’t spot a cinephile traipsing in the footsteps of Richard Burton, peering at his old house, taking in the vista across the valley from the aqueduct, perhaps enjoying a pint in the Miners Arms, where he and Elizabeth Taylor drank on visits back to his south Wales birthplace.

The tourist traffic to Pontrhydyfen is likely to increase after a biopic focusing on the gritty early life of Burton opens in cinemas this weekend, especially as it comes in the centenary year of the Hollywood actor’s birth.

“We’re expecting quite a rush,” said Andrea Edwards, the chair of the Burton Bont festival committee, which is organising a series of events in the village to mark the centenary. “Richard Burton is such a beloved figure here and across the world.”

A gala screening of the film, Mr Burton, will take place at the Reel Cinema down the road in Port Talbot on Friday – much of the village will decamp there – followed by a week of preview screenings in the town before the film is released in cinemas across the UK from 4 April.

“The village will certainly be going to take a look,” said Edwards. “We’re looking forward to seeing what they made of our place.”

The film’s producer, Ed Talfan, said the crew had loved shooting in the village, using locations including in a steep graveyard where there is a memorial to Burton, and the aqueduct.

“We were there a couple of days and the sun shone and they couldn’t have been more welcoming,” he said. “A lot of people sort of came out of their houses to talk to us. Hopefully, it will go down well with the villagers.”

The film has been financed by BBC Wales and Ffilm Cymru Wales, in partnership with the Welsh government agency Creative Wales. Talfan said he felt it was important to go to the real places connected to Burton – because of the authentic feel, and as a way of saying thank you for the public money they had used.

“It’s lovely when you do something like this out in the community. It’s inspiring and helps the actors. We’re lucky to have extraordinary landscapes in Wales.”

Harry Lawtey plays the young Burton, and Toby Jones and Lesley Manville also star. Talfan said Jones in particular had been “blown away” by the village. The place is more verdant and less industrial than it was in Burton’s youth, so chimneys belching out black smoke have been added with the use of special effects.

The Welsh culture minister, Jack Sargeant, said the production exemplified “authentic Welsh storytelling”. He said: “We are committed to supporting filmmaking in Wales by working with partners to share our stories with the world and establish our reputation as a premier filming destination.”

Everyone in Pontrhydyfen seems to have a tale about Burton and Taylor, still arguably Hollywood’s greatest couple. Edwards said she remembers a glamorous man and woman coming into a general store when she was a young girl. “They wanted to buy some Welsh bacon and what I remember is that she smelled absolutely divine.” The young Edwards pointed out that the woman appeared to be jumping the queue and was told: “Shh, it’s Elizabeth Taylor.”

A sweet shop used to be sure to get in upmarket chocolate when Taylor was around, but there were few airs and graces about the pair, who stayed with relatives and friends. “Not a fancy hotel,” said Edwards.

The local school closed in 2015, which was a bitter blow to the village, and Edwards said making more of the Burton heritage had helped draw the place together. Last year the committee commissioned a mural of Burton on the Miners Arms.

Edwards said some local children had not been sure who Burton was until the mural appeared. “What’s been nice is that kids now understand that somebody from humble beginnings actually made it – was, you know, bigger than Beyoncé.”

Anniversary celebrations later this year include an exhibition of residents’ photos and ciné film of Burton and Taylor, a concert featuring another star from the village, the Grammy award-winning soprano Rebecca Evans, and a scarecrow festival featuring characters from the actor’s films, plays or narrations.

Mari Clark, the secretary of the festival committee, said: “I think everyone met Burton and Taylor. The call would come: ‘Rich and Liz are home next weekend, OK?’ Nobody would bother them.”

She remembers Taylor in an Afghan coat, and the time when word came that Burton had given up alcohol. The Miners Arms got in non-alcoholic beer but the rumour that Burton was on the wagon was unfounded and the bottles went unopened for years.

As well as celebrating Burton, the Burton Bont festival is marking the 200th anniversary of the aqueduct (bont is bridge in Welsh), a neat coincidence as there is a famous image of Burton and his miner father, Richard “Dick Bach” Jenkins, walking across it together.

Johanne Harrington, the festival’s artistic director, said Burton and Taylor were part of the fabric of the place. “The village is such a close-knit community and he is still very much part of it.”