Global Media and Cultural Policy: The European Union and Audiovisual Industries in the Global South by Benjamin A. J. Pearson A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Communication Studies) in The University of Michigan 2019 Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Aswin Punathambekar, Chair Associate Professor Daniel Herbert Assistant Professor Julia Sonnevend, The New School Professor Derek Vaillant Benjamin A. J. Pearson [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0002-0495-5870 © Benjamin A. J. Pearson 2019 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful to the many family members, friends, and colleagues who provided valuable feedback and support throughout my work on this dissertation. I would especially like to acknowledge my dissertation committee. Aswin Punathambekar read drafts of chapters, proposals, and articles, and his input was valuable in many ways, especially in helping me to articulate what I found interesting and valuable about this project. Daniel Herbert, Julia Sonnevend, and Derek Vaillant also helped this project take shape through discussions about research methods, recommendations of scholarly work on obscure subjects, and encouragement and enthusiasm. Two former members of my dissertation committee also deserve special mention: Paddy Scannell, my academic advisor throughout much of the PhD program, who helped shape this project during its foundational early stages, and Shazia Iftkhar. I would also like to acknowledge the many interviewees and participants who were exceedingly generous with their time despite their busy schedules: without them, this project would not have been possible. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................ ii LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... vi ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. vii INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................... 1 Culture, Media, and Development .............................................................................................. 7 Development and Instrumental Media: From Modernization to Participation ........................ 9 Towards a Fuzzy Metrics of Culture: UNESCO and the NWICO ........................................ 10 Positioning ACPCultures+ as Audiovisual Assistance ......................................................... 13 Today’s Network of Cultural and Audiovisual Assistance ................................................... 15 Where is Global Audiovisual Policy Located? ......................................................................... 18 Critical Approaches ................................................................................................................... 20 Chapter Outline ......................................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 1: Brussels as the Bureaucratic Capital of a Media Policy Empire ......................... 24 Chapter 2: Co-Production in the Global Film Funding Regime ............................................ 25 Chapter 3: Formal Distribution on the Peripheries and the Case of Africa’s First VOD Platform ................................................................................................................................. 28 Chapter 4: Audiovisual Training Programs and Maisha Screenwriting Lab: Developing Scripts .................................................................................................................................... 30 CHAPTER 1: Brussels as the Bureaucratic Capital of a Media Policy Empire ................... 32 Introduction: “No Future Without Culture” .............................................................................. 32 Thinking through Brussels ........................................................................................................ 38 A Bureaucratic Capital .......................................................................................................... 38 Diversity, Nationality, and the European Quarter ................................................................. 41 A Media Policy Capital ......................................................................................................... 47 Brussels’ Policy Documents and ACPCultures+ ...................................................................... 51 iii The Emergence of the ACP Group of States............................................................................. 57 ACPCultures+ ........................................................................................................................... 60 The Application Form ............................................................................................................... 63 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 70 CHAPTER 2: Co-productions in the Global Film Funding Regime ..................................... 72 Introduction: European Funding for African Students at an American Film School ............... 72 European Co-productions .......................................................................................................... 76 The Beginnings of Treaty Co-Productions ............................................................................ 78 Europudding: Co-productions and Blandness ....................................................................... 82 Co-productions Funded by ACPCultures+ ............................................................................... 85 Situating the Texts of ACPCultures+ Co-productions .............................................................. 93 The New Landscape of the Globalized Art House .................................................................... 97 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 101 CHAPTER 3: Formal Distribution on the Peripheries and the Case of Africa’s First VOD Platform ..................................................................................................................................... 103 Introduction: Cinema Le Normandie ...................................................................................... 103 Cultural Exchange and Distribution Policies in the EU .......................................................... 107 Distribution Projects Funded by ACPCultures+ ..................................................................... 112 Film Festivals and Distribution ........................................................................................... 114 Entering Regional and Global Markets ............................................................................... 116 Digital Projects .................................................................................................................... 118 AfricaFilms.TV and MobiCINE+ ........................................................................................... 120 AfricaFilms.TV and the Scramble for VOD ....................................................................... 122 MobiCINE+: Mobile Distribution Between Cinema and NGOs......................................... 127 Conclusion: VOD After AfricaFilms.TV ................................................................................ 130 CHAPTER 4: Audiovisual Training Programs and Maisha Screenwriting Lab: Developing Scripts......................................................................................................................................... 134 Introduction: Moderately Altruistic Non-Governmental Organizations ................................. 134 European Film Education ........................................................................................................ 139 National Film Education: From Ideology, to Auteurs, to Industry ..................................... 140 iv Internationalizing Film Education ....................................................................................... 142 Audiovisual Training Programs Funded by ACPCultures+ .................................................... 145 Situating Maisha Film Lab ...................................................................................................... 148 Appealing to Foreign Donors .............................................................................................. 154 In What Sense Can Writers Be Trained? ............................................................................. 158 Formally Evaluating Scripts ................................................................................................ 169 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 171 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 174 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................... 182 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: ACPCultures+ Newsletter ............................................................................................