Introduction to the Program

For already decades, Film and Cinema have served as a powerful, effective vehicles to inspire and enable people to come together towards peaceful relations. Over the course of many years now, people have discovered the unique potential of film as common language to bring together different groups and communities. These unique qualities have the unparalleled strength to continuously effect people and over time sculpt human society closer to the ultimate goal of global peace.

Throughout the twentieth century and beyond, Film has served as one of the most influential and accessible mediums of cultural diplomacy and it has had a unique ability to effect "the masses” all around the world. In particular, certain films have succeeded at not only entertaining audiences, but have served as examples of films that have truly helped to educate, enhance and sustain relationships, to break stereotypes and transcend borders at a number of levels.

The technological developments of the last decades have changed the political and cultural center of the human race from the city centers into the video and photo sharing platforms as well as other social networks; this dramatic change enables both producers and the public audience greater access to each other through film than ever before possible across the history of humanity.

By telling stories that reflect the social, cultural and political landscapes of their origin, film serves as a powerful means to promote peaceful relations between peoples on the one hand and at the same time challenge stereotypes and the status quo and foster intercultural understanding on a scale never before imagined. Ultimately, film serves as powerful vehicles to break stereotypes, fight discrimination and provide hope to situations of conflict that have not yet concluded in peace.

These contributions to international relations will be analysed by this program. The program will examine the immense transformative value that film holds as vehicles of Cultural Diplomacy. The vision of the program is to bring an interdisciplinary mixture of celebrated artists, high level representatives from the film industry and practitioners of Cultural Diplomacy in order to prepare an agenda, which will initiate programs and initiatives that will support global peace.