Film Diplomacy in Turkey-US Relations

About this episode

This episode explores the role of film in shaping Turkey-US relations during the Cold War, focusing on educational and informational cinema.

with Ayşehan Jülide Etem hosted by Chris Gratien and Sıla Önder | During the Cold War period, Turkish cinema flourished, as American films entered local theaters, television sets, and the studios of Yeşilçam. Yet as Jülide Etem argues in her new book, Film Diplomacy , the cinematic story of Turkey-US relations begins not with entertaining Hollywood movies that circled the globe but rather educational film productions that simultaneously furthered the interests of American overseas power and Turkish domestic policy. In this episode, we explore how film became a ubiquitous technology and tool of the nation-state in Turkey through informational movies, educational material designed for the classroom, and place-based documentaries that performed the dual role of promoting tourism and cultivating knowledge of the country's different provinces among its citizens. As Etem explains, these ambivalent co-productions shaped an image of Turkey's inclusion in the international order, making film an arena in which visions of Turkey could be used to reify notions of American supremacy, as the Turkish national elite claimed their own place among the white Euro-American civilizations that became…

People in this episode

Hosts: Chris Gratien, Sıla Önder

Guest: Ayşehan Jülide Etem

Topics covered

• Film Diplomacy
• Turkey-US relations
• Cold War cinema
• informational movies
• cultural diplomacy

Keywords

• Turkish cinema
• American films
• Cold War
• educational films
• cultural diplomacy
• Yeşilçam
• informational movies
• Turkey
• US relations

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Film Diplomacy

Places: Turkey, United States, Yeşilçam

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