Mumbai, the city of dreams, on Thursday, received the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)'s 'Creative City' tag under the film category on occasion of 'World Cities Day' celebrated on October 31.
Among the 66 cities across the world to be tagged as 'Creative Cities' on Thursday, Mumbai along with Hyderabad was the Indian city to receive the tag this year. Meanwhile, Hyderabad got the recognition under the gastronomy category.
The United Nations-affiliated organisation awards the ‘Creative City’ status under seven categories, including films, and picks cities that commit to placing culture at the centre of their development strategies.
Mumbai and Hyderabad are now part of a network of 246 designated ‘Creative Cities’, joining Chennai, Varanasi and Jaipur from India.
In June, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had applied for the tag for the city to UNESCO’s Creative Cities Programme. In its application, the BMC pledged that
“It [the Creative Cities tag] would open up opportunities for filmmakers and students from the network sister cities to experience the film-making process in Mumbai.”
A senior civic official said that the tag will provide Mumbai recognition on the international level and will promote socio-economic development, expertise, employment, and inward investment into the local film industry.
“We encourage participation of all sections of societies in films. Mumbai has screenings for civic school students; exchange programmes; and film festivals like MAMI and Kashish,” he said.