Culture Cinema is a very unique film festival curated by Praveen Nagda.
Culture Cinema: The theme of the festival was culture and it brought films from various countries. Two Films, ‘Kanda Bode’ from Africa and ‘Sindhustan’ from India share top prize of $1000 at premiere edition of Culture Cinema Film Festival (C2F2).
Culture Cinema 2021, a unique concept-based film festival that aims at celebrating world cultures via cinema for Indian and global audiences, announced the Award Winners of the Festival on 21st July 2021. The film festival is currently running online at CultureCinema.MovieSaints.com, and the official selected films will be available till 16th August 2021, in the virtual edition.
The top notch films were, ‘Kanda Bode’ (Don’t Get Whipped), directed by Fekad Kiros from Africa; and ‘Sindhustan’ directed by Sapna Bhavnani from India. They received the top Award of ‘Film of the Festival’. They shared the top prize of $1000 at this premiere edition of Culture Cinema Film Festival (C2F2) this year.
There was also a ‘Jury Special Award’ which is shared by two films viz. ‘I am a black sculptor’ from Netherlands, directed by Robin van Erven Dorens and ‘Cumbia around the world’, directed by Pablo Ignacio Coronel. Fifteen films also received “Best in Category” Awards for their remarkable cinematic representation in 14 categories of cultural aspects. The festival is supported by UNESCO New Delhi Office, JLF Litfest and CIFEJ apart from other festival partners.
The brain child of Praveen Nagda, Festival Director of Culture Cinema 2021, speaks about what inspired him to start this unique festival. He explains, “We organized this unique film festival, Culture Cinema 2021 that aims to celebrate world cultures via cinema. Every country has its own, unique culture and culture always binds people together.
Having a platform that allows filmmakers an opportunity of storytelling about their diverse cultural aspects to the world is a wonderful thing. We want to explore the potential of culture to bring prosperity, development, and peaceful co-existence using cinema as a medium. Cinema has always been a great medium of expression, and this festival aims to become a preferred platform to explore world cultures through cinema.”
Culture Cinema 2021 has a great Jury mix of acclaimed filmmakers, directors, writers, and cinema educators from across the globe. Jury members included well known names like Archana Kelkar Deshmukh, Jitendra Mishra, Monarose Sheila Pereira, Ramesh Tekwani, Ritesh Taksande, Vinod Ganatra, and Vedakumar Manikonda from India, Gabriele Brennen from France, and Theodora Malliarou from Greece.
Engineer, Urban and Regional Planner, Chairman,Deccan Heritage, Academy, Member CIFEJ, Governing Council Member – INTACH, New Delhi, Member – ICOMOS, India, Vedkumar Manikonda, congratulated Praveen Nagda and the Organisers of Culture Cinema 2021, saying, “This Film festival helped me to visit various countries cultural richness and their customs and rituals and gave us an opportunity to experience a parallels between countries with similar and diversified cultures. The films were well selected for this Fest.”
Writer-Filmmaker Ramesh Tekwani, feels, observes, “Culture Cinema is less esoterica and more a mind-widening intermingling of day-to-day happenings, dreams, nightmares, history and traditions being repeated or created across the world; captured for posterity as an audio visual cultural legacy for the world. Kudos to all the film makers and their very brave and far-sighted producers who bank-rolled the films to make them happen. It’s time we gave them their due. To Praveen Nagda goes the credit of presenting these films on a single platform – Culture Cinema Film Festival, aka C2F2;.with UNESCO Delhi, JLF Litfest and CIFEJ coming on board as partners his first step is all set for a giant leap.”
Another Jury member, Author and Guest Faculty for media studies, Monarose Sheila Pereira, who is also known as India’s Enid Blyton, says, “It was refreshing to see such well made films from various cultures across the world. The films were educative and well researched. They highlighted the need to focus on social and cultural aspects of life in different countries and cultures. The films were a delight to watch and difficult to judge because they were wellmade and distinct in their own right.”
Film maker, Gabriele Brennen, said, “What a nice idea to make a festival about what should bring people together: their differences! Their culture, their traditions, their art, whether music, theater, cinema, painting or sculpting, what a marvelous idea to be able to travel from one country to an other without having to move, not that it is not nice to move, but alas it is not always possible, whether it is because of money, covid, work or family circumstances. Knowing the other allows us to discover, to compare, to progress, to be aware that our own traditions are precious. Culture Festival give us a unique opportunity to know more about others and ourselves!
Filmmaker and researcher of youth cinema, Theodora Malliarou, noted, “As a new member of CIFEJ ( International Centre of Film for Children and Young People) I am honoured to be part of Culture Cinema 2021. It has been a great pleasure watching films about culture from all around the world, especially this difficult year of COVID-19 related restrictions. The great thing about ouρ times is that technology gives us the opportunity to connect and communicate beyond borders. Wishes for a bright future for everyone from Greece.
HOD – Films and Media School (GH Raisoni University, Amravati, Director, Editor, Filmmaker (Course Director at FTII-SKIFT Program), Ritesh Taksande, believes, “The Cultural Film festival is very unique in my point of view as we attend and jury a lot of festivals and see many different kinds of films. Here the films were focused on culture, tradition, beliefs which were interesting to watch and enjoy different cultures and traditions from around the world.
Each film was showcasing many aspects of various beliefs and traditional values and how the future generation should follow, preserve, or even in few cases abandoning the old culture which is harmful to human life. I believe these kinds of films should not only be showcased in festivals but should be brought to the public and every individual should watch them.”
The occasion presented plenty of intellectually stimulating discussions by well-known authors, Bollywood personalities, filmmakers, OOT professionals, and academicians participated in these discussions.
This article is shared with Prittle Prattle News in the form of a Press Release.
By Reporter
