MUMBAI: Culture Cinema 2021, an upcoming film festival aimed at celebratinh world cultures through the medium of cinema is set to take place in July this year.

Talking about the same, Praveen Nagda, Festival Director, Culture Cinema 2021 shared: "We have received over a hundred entries already from 27 countries so far and the deadlines of submission have still a month to go."

"We identified 21 unique categories including History, Music, Festivals, Art and Artisans, Architectural Heritage, Education, Social Practices, Travel and Tourism, Literature, Mythology, Traditional Sports, Biodiversity, Cultural Reforms, Attire and Ornaments, Food, Traditional Medicine, Cultural Taboos, Tribal Community, Diaspora, Battles and Philosophy for this festival. Our theme for this festival is Prosperity, Development and Peaceful Co-Existence via Cinema," he further informed.

The festival is being supported by UNESCO New Delhi Office, CIFEJ, and JLF Litfest, among others.

Eric Falt, Director, UNESCO New Delhi Office said: "Congratulations for curating this special platform aiming at showcasing the diverse cultural expressions and creative ingenuity. The powerful capacity of cinema to bring culture to the main stage and to introduce the audience to many different perspectives from across the globe is crucial in terms of building values of intercultural dialogue, inclusion, pluralism, social cohesion, and what we call in the UNESCO parlance, global citizenship."

Originally, scheduled for the UN-declared World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue & Development on May 21, the festival will now be organised this year from July 17 to 21, owing to the second wave of Covid-19. A final decision on whether the festival will be an in-person or digital event is yet to be taken.