Last year when I was checking into a hotel, the desk person was wearing Meta glasses. I kindly asked them to take them off. They were annoyed. I said, “I do not consent to you looking at my credit card and ID with Meta glasses on.” My instincts were correct: www.bbc.com/news/article...
I found 16mm films about Turkey in the middle of the United States and I wanted to understand why they were made.
After years of research, I uncovered why they were sponsored, how they circulated, how they were received, and what they communicated.
For answers: Film Diplomacy. ✨
Buy this book! I had the opportunity to blurb it and can confidently say it’s a superb analysis of film, propaganda, race and national
identity
Thank you for your generous endorsement, Bilge! I’m truly honored by your support.
🎉 Film Diplomacy is READY FOR ORDER!
Cold War classrooms. Cultural politics. Educational cinema as global strategy.
So excited to finally share this with you all 💫
#NewBook #FilmDiplomacy #AcademicSky
Use the coupon code CUP20 and save 20%.
cup.columbia.edu/book/film-di...
Congratulations!
Few pre-book copies of "Unlimited: Aspirational Politics and Mobile Media Distribution" arrived in package, and some kind endorsements from scholars whom I deeply respect. The book is going to be published in late March through MIT Press.
Thanks so much, Philip! It was great working with you on this book.
Now available! FILM DIPLOMACY: A MEDIA HISTORY OF US-TURKEY RELATIONS, by Ayşehan Jülide Etem. Use the coupon code CUP20 and save 20% bit.ly/3PaRGj2 @julideetem.bsky.social @columbiaup.bsky.social
wrote about morgan neville's excellent new documentary about paul mccartney's 1970s slate.com/culture/2026...
Despite it all, our collaborative federal/academic research project has been renewed for two more years. Still featuring hundreds of scholars, archivists, curators, and policy analysts. We might be the last game in town for Film and Media Studies, but the need for memory research continues...
Book cover for Film Diplomacy: A Media History of Turkey–US Relations by Ayşehan Jülide Etem. The top half features bold red and white title text on a dark blue background. Below, a black-and-white archival photograph shows several men operating film cameras and tripods on a hillside overlooking a dense cityscape, suggesting documentary or state media production. The author’s name appears at the bottom on a blue band.
Very excited to announce my first book 🪄 Film Diplomacy 📽️ is forthcoming with @columbiaup.bsky.social.
Thrilled that this is finally coming out! I'm so proud to have collaborated on Linda Williams' incredible last work on melodrama. The intro to our volume is now available -- and look at that killer cover!!
First review of The Story of Documentary Film:
theplaylist.net/the-story-of...
Amazing, congratulations!
Congratulations, amazing!
Why does everything feel like a scam?
Can scams be liberatory?
Why do we love scammers so much?
You can watch all the talks (including mine!) and video submissions from the amazing salon on scams at MoMa
momarnd.moma.org/salons/salon...
Exciting streaming event coming up =>
CCSN CHATS: ARCHIVING THE INTERNET?
April 14, 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 4 PM GMT
with
- Sakyra Abbitt, National Women's History Museum
- Camille Lawrence, Webrecorder
- Dr. Meredith Clark, UNC Chapel Hill
- Zakiya Collier, Shift Collective […]
Just finished editing the last proof of this baby. This is an idea that has been cooking for several years (since my Fandom While Black essay?) & is informed by my interest in the relationship between media industries & audience reception. (Coming soon in International Journal of Communication).
The world is on fire, so who you gonna call?
www.withgoodreasonradio.org/episode/call...
A reminder that many of our emergency resources are actually hyperlocal in their funding and operation, meaning that they may not work seamlessly but they are available for our attention and direct activism.
Graphic for ProPublica's "Before a Breath" stillbirth documentary event. Text reads: Wednesday, March 5, 2025. 5:30 PM - Pre-Event Gathering. 505 Bloomfield Ave, Montclair NJ. 7:00 PM - Screening and Panel Discussion. The Clairidge, 486 Bloomfield Ave. Montclair, NJ. Registration is required. At the bottom of the graphic are logos for ProPublica, Montclair Film, The Clairidge, and the Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey.
📣 Montclair, NJ residents!
Join us March 5 for a screening and discussion of our new stillbirth documentary, "Before a Breath," in collaboration with the Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey and @montclairfilm.bsky.social.
👉 Register: propub.li/3F4xKJN
This March has two great events w/ @columbiaup.bsky.social authors at @lightindustry.bsky.social:
March 11: Brian Jacobson (@bleudeciel.bsky.social), author of THE CINEMA OF EXTRACTIONS
MARCH 25: Rob King, author of MAN OF TASTE
bit.ly/4iivaOw
New article out!
In the build up and aftermath of BLM 2020, Black Hollywood often critiqued the industry for its interest in their pain. We find evidence they were right.
We analyzed streaming platforms and found most disproportionately marketed Black trauma over joy or more complex narratives.
Congratulations to Pam Wojcik and Paula Massood on this formidable collection…coming soon to a library near you! (Probably a bit expensive for individuals.)
www.routledge.com/The-Routledg...
I wrote about the new led zeppelin documentary that's currently in theaters, which I really liked. more music docs that actually take their subject and audience seriously! slate.com/culture/2025...
Delighted to be giving an invited talk on the origins of NPR, PBS, and public media, for affiliates and stations themselves. It’s an open talk and all are invited to sign up.
USAID's Development Experience Clearinghouse (DEC) is now offline.This massive online repository, which housed nearly 50 years of USAID's work, is no longer accessible. Over 150,000 documents—including oral histories, program planning materials & records of past USAID projects—have disappeared.
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