If six weeks in Paris during the European summer learning filmmaking from some of the greats of French cinema sounds like your kind of working holiday, you should probably keep your ear to the ground for the 2017 edition of the Femis Gulf Summer School. The programme – a partnership between The Embassy of France to the UAE and the Femis Film School in Paris – sends students from across the Gulf to Paris each summer for an intensive six-week course.

The Federal Government has expressed its readiness to partner with Japan and France to develop the movie industry through animated movies in line with its diversifying the economy. Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, said this on the sideline of the second edition of the Animated Film Festival organised by the Japanese and French Embassies in Abuja on Wednesday.

Nations can and should nurture their brands much as consumer products and other companies do, a bevy of speakers said Friday at the Wharton Nation Brand 2016 conference. [...] Countries have branding as part of their DNA, panelists said, pointing to Germany's reputation as a powerhouse of skilled engineering, France's reputation as a haven of culture and Brazil's fame as a place of soccer, beaches and fun.

The government of France and European Union (EU) have concluded plans to contribute the sum of €35.5 million in aid package for the rehabilitation and development of North-east Nigeria and especially Lake Chad Basin region devastated by the Boko Haram terrorism. The Adviser for Africa in the Office of the Presidency, L’Elysee, Paris, France, Mr. Thomas Melonio [...] stated that France in its ‘Lake Chad Initiative’ programme, will increase its financial and humanitarian input for the development of the Lake Chad region.

Singapore is taking the lead in the war against cybercrime by building alliances regionally and globally. [...] Singapore has been deploying 'cyber diplomacy' - building alliances with other countries [...] Singapore's Cyber Security Agency (CSA) has signed bilateral cyber agreements with five countries: France, the UK, India, the Netherlands and the US. 

Call it “cultural diplomacy” or “soft power,” the blockbuster show was just one half of the major Russian cultural initiatives that debuted in Paris during the week, seeking to burnish Moscow’s reputation abroad as a year dedicated to “cultural tourism” has been overshadowed by political disputes.

Cultural diplomacy is accepted as a powerful instrument of soft power whose outreach is often underestimated. It has been found to be the most effective way of influencing foreign audiences. Other countries reach out to the youth, non-elite and other audiences outside the traditional embassy circuit because this form of diplomacy derives its credibility when it is seen as being independent of government institutions. 

At a time when Islamic State militants around the world have sledgehammered antiquities, French President François Holland helped launch a cultural heritage initiative at the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting. [...] The French President announced the creation of a $100 million public/private fund, with the United Arab Emirates, to safeguard endangered cultural heritage sites.