film diplomacy

This week's headlines highlighted media such as film, photography, and gaming as a powerful tool to reach international audiences.

Films are not only pieces of creative expression, they are also tools of communication and awareness raising, and a way of calling for social change.  The burgeoning African film industry is also a major economic driver.

After working as a war cameraman for 18 years, getting injured twice along the way, Egyptian journalist Ibrahim al Batout decided to get away from the real-life violence and make movies.  But his latest venture "El Ott" or "The Cat", which premiered this week at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, does not shy away from blood.

The treaty aims to usher in a new chapter of cultural diplomacy between the two countries. While the prospect of a Telugu film being co-produced through this treaty seems a distant possibility, mana filmmakers are waking up to the prospect of shooting films in China.

rom joint collaboration to single window clearance - an Indian delegation would be showcasing the country's "soft power" at the ongoing Toronto International Film Festival.  India and Canada had recently signed an Audio-Visual Co-Production Agreement, which enables Indian and Canadian film producers to collaborate on various facets of filmmaking.

While refugees poured across the border to China telling stories of starvation and torture, in the other direction — thanks to the merchants — came foreign films, television shows and music stored on DVDs and USBs, a link to the prosperity and ways of the outside world. These shifts gave rise to North Korea’s very own millennials, a generation born in the 1990s who are independent, pragmatic and less politically attached than their predecessors, says Park. They’re also known as the “Black Market Generation.”

From joint collaboration to single window clearance - an Indian delegation would be showcasing the country's "soft power" at the ongoing Toronto International Film Festival. Led by Information and Broadcasting Secretary Bimal Julka, the team, which arrived here on Sep 6, will share details about the country's strength as a film shooting destination for foreign producers and would promote joint collaborations amongst stakeholders, said an Information and Broadcasting Ministry statement. 

Hollywood triumphed in China this summer afterTransformers: Age of Extinction broke all previous box office records there, selling over $300 million worth of tickets against a $244 million U.S. take. But jubilation over the film's Chinese success has been dampened somewhat by jeers from major news outlets in the West that Transformers 4 was yet another example of Hollywood's selling out to China. Critics of the film point to its numerous Chinese product placements, generously featured Chinese landmarks, cameos by Chinese pop stars, and a pro-Chinese-government message.

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