Kevin Smets

Waren stille films wel écht stil? Waarom kennen we zo weinig vrouwelijke filmmakers? En wat hebben video’s op YouTube en TikTok gemeen met de eigenzinnige filmmakers van de nouvelle vague in de jaren 1960? Deze en vele andere vragen krijgen een uitgebreid antwoord in dit nieuw overzicht van de filmgeschiedenis. Het boek loodst je door meer dan 130 jaar geschiedenis, van de eerste magische ‘bewegende foto’s’ tot de laatste ontwikkelingen in digitale film en special effects. In dit verhaal komen techniek, industrie, kunst en politiek elkaar voortdurend tegen. Tegelijkertijd is Film. Een geschiedenis een pleidooi voor een open en inclusieve blik op de filmgeschiedenis. Niet-westerse film en thema’s als discriminatie, seksisme en kolonialisme komen ruim aan bod. Bovendien getuigen twaalf experts, gaande van animatielegende Raoul Servais tot regisseur Dorothée van den Berghe en actrice, scenariste en regisseur Hilde Van Mieghem, over hun persoonlijk sleutelmoment in de filmgeschiedenis. Film. Een geschiedenis is zowel een inleiding voor de nieuwsgierige beginner als een grondige opfrissing voor de doorwinterde cinefiel. Maar bovenal is het een liefdesverklaring aan een oud maar springlevend massamedium.

Although previous research focused on how governments use advertising to control news media, this study expands the literature on media capture not only by examining how state actors and dominant political parties control the advertising sector in a transitional democracy such as the Kurdistan Region of Iraq but also by exploring the (in)direct impact of various social actors, including corporations, political candidates in election periods, and international nongovernmental organizations. It reports on the findings from 19 in-depth interviews with media professionals and officials from media regulatory authorities. The findings show that advertisers are driven not only by the motivation to influence media content but also by economic interests, such as the colonization of state resources, personal gain, and crony capitalism. We conclude by discussing how precarious socioeconomic conditions lead media professionals to develop informal networks with advertisers-in turn, allowing powerful social actors to use advertising for either capturing news media or expanding their networks with authorities-and how this impacts on journalism practice.

This article focuses on a particular aspect of media capture theory: advertising as a means of financing media outlets in a transitional democracy such as Iraqi Kurdistan. Its aim is to investigate the extent to which various social actors attempt to capture news media by choosing to provide financial support to some and withhold it from others through their allocation of advertisements and announcements. We report on the findings of a quantitative content analysis of the ads published in six major weekly and daily newspapers in the five-year period from 2014 through 2018 (N = 11,112). These findings provide information on the linkages between media organizations and powerful social actors within a nontransparent media environment, and shed new light on the nature and profile of both "partisan" and "independent" media outlets. We conclude by discussing the implications of these results with regard to the state of media capture in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Social media are usually associated with democratic political changes in authoritarian countries. However, authoritarian regimes have also learned to control the use of social media platforms. Among the ways of controlling social media, Internet trolling has emerged as an important part of social media networks and strategies. After the Gezi protests in 2013, Turkey has employed trolls to spread official views and counter government critics on social media, and pro-government users have become much more active. The government’s Twitter network has been built, primarily, on so-called ‘Ak trolls’. These have gained more impact in political circumstances, and with the help of state of emergency rules after the coup attempt on 15 July 2016, they have reached a level in which they influence Turkish social, political and Twitter spheres both directly and indirectly. This paper focuses on the tweets of regime supporters and ‘Ak trolls’ in order to explore the characteristics of posts in July 2016, during the days leading up to the coup attempt and in the post-coup period. Our work contributes to existing knowledge of trolls and the social media networks of authoritarian regimes by providing information on their behaviour in times of acute conflict and crisis like the coup attempt.

Can we think about the role of media and information and communication technologies in the lives of forced migrants through the lens of immobility? The dominant focus in the communication studies literature is on mobility, movement and connectivity. Migration studies and anthropology however offer productive ways to conceptualize the mobility-immobility spectrum as well as the imaginative dimensions of (im)mobility. Building on two studies that were situated at the temporal and geographical edges of the 'European refugee crisis'-a 2015 study in a Syrian refugee camp in Turkey and a 2017-2018 study with Syrian, Afghan and Iraqi refugees in Belgium-this article develops a conceptual framework of media and immobility in the context of forced migration. It coins the pair concepts affective immobility and symbolic immobility to highlight and understand practices of disengagement with media and information and communication technologies, agentic disconnectivity and feelings of symbolic fixedness.

Media are fundamental to the way communities make sense of conflicts. This also holds true for diaspora communities, who are involved in and affected by distant/homeland conflicts. Shifting away from the dominant focus on ‘radicalization’ through media in this context, this study looks at the role media play in making sense of such conflict among young Kurds in London. Data consist of focus groups with Kurdish youth, participant observations in community centres and ethnographic conversations. While media are generally perceived as the central forces through which diaspora youth experience and engage with the Kurdish conflict in Turkey, ethnic media, in particular Kurdish broadcasting, play a very limited role. The distance vis-a`-vis ethnic media is analysed and explained through respondents’ discourses on diasporic cosmopolitanism. The results show that their shift away from ethnic media facilitates more solid ethnic identities and more enhanced engagements with the Kurdish conflict

Our perception of social reality is increasingly shaped by an interplay of representations in online and traditional media. Media representations also influence the public perception of immigrants and refugees as well as immigration policies. Thus, the way in which migration, immigrants, refugees or ethnic and religious minorities are represented across different types of media has certainly been one of the most prominent themes in European media and communication studies. A significant portion of that scholarship has focused on representations of Islam and Muslim populations in Europe (as mapped by, among others, Jaspal and Cinnirella, 2010; Poole, 2016; Tsagarousianou, 2016). In recent years, the media representation of refugees and asylum seekers has become a nostable topic of research (for a brief overview of this emerging research, see Bozdağ and Smets, 2017, pp. 4049–4050, and De Cock et al., in this issue), with studies on social media becoming more prominent.

This special issue of Communications aims to show that these issues still matter and yet new topics and discussions keep emerging. Recently, the abruptly increasing number of incoming refugees from the Middle East to Europe in 2015 – by some framed as a refugee ‘crisis’ (for a critical discussion, see De Cleen, Zienkowski, Smets, Dekie, and Vandevoordt, 2017; Sigona, 2018; Zaborowski and Georgiou, 2016) – and the 2016 U.S. presidential elections formed major juncture points in the representation of migration and mobility. In this special issue, we argue that in order to understand how those representations influence the public perception of immigrants and refugees, we need to go beyond only analyzing the representations, and look at how different publics engage with these representations. We also need to take into account media use and media literacy. Furthermore, this special issue also aims to broaden the scope of studies on media representations of immigrants and refugees by including studies on both non-EU and EU immigrants, making cross-country comparisons, and offering an engaged research agenda and a critical perspective.

The theme and focus of this special issue arose in concurrence with a collaborative research project, IM²MEDIATE, which focuses on the dynamic interplay between media representations of non-EU immigrants and governmental and societal reactions. Recognizing the multifaceted issue of media representations and the wide range of actors involved, the project investigates not only textual and visual content related to migration, but also the way in which different stakeholders (policy makers, public opinion, media producers and immigrants themselves) make sense of this content. Comparisons between the Belgian and Swedish contexts form the central axis of the project. With the articles by De Cock et al. and De Coninck et al., this special issue presents the first key findings of that project, drawing our attention to the newspaper coverage of refugees, and public opinion towards them, respectively.

Using the vision of this project as a springboard, we set out to find complementing studies from other national contexts, using different conceptual and methodological frameworks. Indeed, we present here a series of papers focusing on Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United States, in several cases comparing these national contexts. Besides this geographical diversity, we put forth here studies ranging from large-scale quantitative analyses of news coverage to participatory-action inspired research on media literacy with young immigrants. The dominant emphasis in the special issue is on newspaper coverage. Recent large-scale research on representations of migration in the European press (Berry, Garcia-Blanco, and Moore, 2015; Georgiou and Zabarowski, 2017) shows that newspapers remain highly influential. They are key actors in shaping public opinion and policy.

This paper reports on an exploratory, qualitative study of media use among Syrian refugees in Turkey, focusing on two locations: a refugee camp in Sanliurfa (South-Eastern Turkey) and a community center in Istanbul. It seeks to provide new angles for conceptualizing the “connected refugee” by adopting a non-media-centric and ethnographic approach that emphasizes diversity, local contexts and everydayness. Firstly, the paper discusses the interplay between individual and collective ownership of media and ICTs, which is linked to certain power dynamics and an informal economy of solidarity. Secondly, the role of popular media (e.g., music, television series, football) for establishing ontological security in an interstitial and unstable position is discussed.

Kurds have come to occupy an increasingly important position in the contemporary Middle East, notably in the struggle against Islamic State (IS). This has brought about an increased presence of Kurds in global media. At the same time, the Kurdish media landscape in the Middle East and in the diaspora has developed rapidly. The timing is thus appropriate to reconsider Kurdish media and cultural production in the light of the recent political, cultural, social and technological shifts. In this editorial introduction to the special issue on Kurdish media and cultural production we reflect on this growing field of research, focusing on three questions: How do media and cultural production contribute to contemporary (discourses on) Kurdish movements, and vice versa? How can we explain the emergence of a Kurdish mediascape in the Middle East and Europe theoretically and methodologically? And, what is the relevance and potential effect of this emerging Kurdish mediascape for the existing politics of media at the national and international level? We give a brief overview of the current state of research on Kurdish media and cultural production and discuss the articles in this special issue and how they contribute to a stronger understanding of the relations between media, culture and society in the Middle East.

Drawing on fieldwork among Kurdish broadcasters in Turkey and Europe, this article shows how ethnic media mediate nationhood in a conflict context. Despite rising interest in the media–nationhood nexus, and the expansion of studies on ethnic media, little is known about ethnic media in conflicts involving state and non-state actors. This study investigates three Kurdish broadcasters, Roj-TV, Gün-TV, and TRT-6. The collected data include expert interviews and informal conversations with employees. Through a grounded theory approach, a model is developed that proposes four modes of mediated nationhood, in which the relation to the state and the role of ethnicity are key elements. Next, it is demonstrated how mediated nationhood in conflicts is characterized by multiple constraints, and how this affects the perceived roles and ethnic belongings among media professionals.

This article analyses the life and work of Halil Dağ (1973–2008), a filmmaker who worked within the Kurdish insurgent movement, with two critical goals. First, the authors use Dağ’s case to conceptualize vernacular cinema of conflict, defying traditional dichotomies between mainstream/vernacular, and fiction/non-fiction. Secondly, through Dağ’s case they seek to better understand the role of vernacular cinema of conflict for the Kurdish culture of resistance and the PKK insurgent movement in particular. Empirically, the article discusses unique ethnographic records (interviews and personal correspondence with Dağ) and a qualitative content analysis of his major films. The authors argue that the concept of vernacular cinema of conflict can serve a better comprehension of the hybrid character and impact of filmmaking in conflict zones.

In an age of mediated conflict, the fields of media and communication studies need to critically address the increasingly important relation between film and violent conflict. The number of films dealing with violent conflicts is expanding, but scholars still struggle to find suitable frameworks to study them. Instead, concepts such as “accented” and “exilic” filmmaking are often used. Seeking to advance the study of film and violent conflict, and based on interdisciplinary insights, this article proposes a framework of cinematic engagement that takes the level of involvement of filmmakers as a key element of differentiation. The proposed framework is illustrated with examples from Kurdish cinema, which is deeply rooted in one of the longest-standing conflicts in the Middle East.

This article takes the case of Former Yugoslav organizations in the Netherlands to investigate how diaspora organizations are central in constructing identities. Contributing to the growing field of studies about Former Yugoslav diasporas, it explores how diaspora organizations play a role as cultural mediators. Drawing
from theories of diaspora, imagined communities and transnationalism, we employ ‘diaspora’ as a versatile tool of analysis, investigating dimensions of diasporic experience, discourse and practice. Data were gathered through a qualitative study including 25 expert interviews and ethnographic observations. The study indicates
that there are two types of diaspora organizations, which are labelled ‘exclusive’ and ‘mixed’ diaspora organizations, and that there are notable differences between Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian organizations. Organizations are discussed with regard to their aims, activities and discourses about diaspora and their capacity to forge belongings among communities.

Focusing on Kurdish television broadcasts in Europe, this article sheds light on how minority broadcasting interrelates with national and intergovernmental political agendas and issues of national security. Drawing from a thorough analysis of policy and diplomatic documents, press articles, academic literature and two expert interviews and focusing on three Kurdish TV channels in Europe, Med-TV, Medya-TV and Roj-TV, it describes how the contrast between Turkish and European media freedoms and minority rights has driven Kurdish broadcasting to develop in Europe, rather than in Turkey. It reveals how, in an effort to obstruct these broadcasting activities, Turkey’s diplomatic undertakings have been able to sway opinions in several countries and get them to endorse more restrictive media policies. This study advances the understanding of minority broadcasting and the European Union (EU) media policies, but also highlights conflicting understandings of freedom of expression and media pluralism between Turkey and Europe.

National identity has become a key theme in discussions about the Turkish media. Yet this is a topic less studied in the field of diasporic media studies. This article takes up the issue of political cinema and its reception among the Turkish diaspora. Through the example of the Valley of the Wolves (Kurtlar Vadisi) franchise, this article discusses how facts, fictions and geo-political motives converge into political cinema. Reporting on a mixed-method audience research that includes surveys, in-depth interviews, focus groups and participant observation among the Turkish community of Antwerp, this article describes the highly polarized reception of Valley of the Wolves among the diaspora.

This article reviews the complex relationship between religion and film-viewing among the Moroccan diaspora in Antwerp (Belgium), an ethnically and linguistically diverse group that is largely Muslim. A media ethnographic study of film culture, including in-depth interviews, a group interview and elaborate fieldwork, indicates that film preferences and consumption vary greatly along socio-demographic and linguistic lines. One particular religious film, however, holds a cult status, Ar Risalah (The Message), a 1976 historical epic produced by Mustapha Akkad that deals with the life of the Prophet Muhammad. The film’s local distribution is discussed, as well as its reception among the Moroccan diaspora. By identifying three positions towards Islam, different modes of reception were found, ranging from a distant and objective to a transparent and subjective mode. It was found that the film supports inter-generational religious instruction, in the context of families and mosques. Moreover, a specific inspirational message is drawn from the film by those who are in search of a well-defined space for Islam in their own lives.

Contributing to the expanding field of cinema and diaspora studies, this article reports on a critical media ethnographic study of the Moroccan diaspora in Antwerp (Belgium) and its engagements with ‘homeland’ films. Unlike most previous studies on diasporic film culture, this case focuses on how a diasporic group deals with a relatively small homeland film industry. It was found that Moroccan films are especially linked to memories and nostalgia as well as to active social positionings vis-à-vis various socio-cultural formations. Hence, the notion of ‘re-membering’ is introduced to capture this dual engagement with homeland films. Further, the relative marginal position of ‘homeland’ films among the diaspora is used to reflect on the centrality of national homelands in conceptualizations of diaspora. Based on this study, sub- and supranational as well as local and religious belongings are highlighted as crucial markers of diasporic identity.

Diaspora refers to a group of people that has dispersed transnationally from a specific homeland, usually for a distinct reason such as war, poverty, or religious conflict. Although traditional definitions emphasized the forced displacement of such communities (diaspora as victims), typologies that emerged in the 1990s refer to various processes of dispersal, the communities that are dispersed, experiences of dispersion, as well as cultural expressions following from it. The concept has become a critical space for reflections about how media relate to modernism, globalization, human mobility, and global inequalities. This entry examines conceptualizations of diaspora, the development and use of diaspora research in
the media and communication studies fields, and ethical considerations that may arise in diaspora research.

There has been a growing interest in the relationship between armed conflict and media culture. While most studies focus on questions concerning the reproduction and representation of conflicts, little is still known about media production practices that occur at the heart of contemporary violent conflicts. Yet they may provide us with first-hand and unique resources to understand the experiences and motivations of different conflict actors, as well as the imaginative and creative languages that are employed in conflict settings. Adding new complexity to the field of conflict and media culture, this article focuses on cinematic production as part of the ‘culture of resistance’ that characterizes armed non-state actors such as guerrilla groups. More specifically, the study discusses the life and work of Halil Dağ (also known as Halil Uysal or Xelîl Uysal, 1973-2008) against the background of the Kurdish conflict in south-eastern Turkey. An autodidact filmmaker, Dağ was equally part of the Kurdish guerrilla that fought with the Turkish army. Although his legacy is limited to 5 low-budget films and a written memoire, Dağ’s status within the Kurdish movement is highly symbolic. Our contribution will explore Dağ’s work with regard to his documentary and ‘immediacy’ film style, his significance as a role model for the young generation of Kurdish filmmakers, and his potential to enrich our theoretical understandings of the relation between cinema and conflict.

Film in the Muslim world is significantly shaped by international migration. This article discusses the relation between international migration and practices of (1) filmmaking, (2) cinematic representations, and (3) film reception. The area covered here is the Muslim world in the geopolitical sense, referring to Muslim-majority countries, with a particular emphasis on North Africa and the Middle East.

This new book on the representations of Islam in the news comes at a time of polarized public debate about immigration and Islam, constantly stoked up by populist politicians. To say that this book is topical is an understatement. Since the book went into print, its subject matter has become painfully relevant due to a series of attacks claimed by Islamic State, and the rhetoric and policies of the American president Donald Trump, severely targeting Muslim populations. Moreover, recent discussions on fake news and propaganda have drawn attention to the societal and political role and impact of (social) media. Many of these current issues connect to the themes covered in the volume edited by Stefan Mertens and Hedwig de Smaele. The question of how Islam and Muslims are covered in the media has been high on the academic agenda thanks to scholars such as Kai Hafez (2000), Elizabeth Poole and John Richardson (2006), and Edward Said (1997). This new volume contributes to this field by offering a collection of chapters dedicated to a cross-cultural analysis of news coverage of Islam.

In her latest monograph, Gönül Dönmez-Colin elaborates on the themes of her previous works on the cinemas of Central Asia and the Middle East. Identity and modernity in the light of national cinema has been a major focus throughout the work of Dönmez-Colin, notably ...

The revival of Turkish cinema, which commenced in the mid-1990s, has stimulated Turkish independent scholars and academics to address issues of cinema within the contemporary society for over a decade. Being exemplary of this wave of scholarship, Asuman Suner ...

The two-day conference "Digital Fortress Europe" (30-31 October 2019, Brussels, Belgium) intends to be a forum to reflect on the relations between media, migration, and technology. These relations demand our fullest attention because they touch on the essence of what migration means in societies that are undergoing democratic challenges. Research shows that media and technologies play a vital role for people who migrate, but that the same media and technologies serve to spread xenophobia, increase societal polarization and enable elaborate surveillance possibilities. With its intensifying anti-migration populist discourses, humanitarian border crises and efforts to secure borders through technological solutions, the European context provides a pulsating scene to examine such deepening relations. Taking place in the heart of Europe's political capital, this conference aims to critically reflect on what the much-debated notion of "Fortress Europe" means in the digital age and how it can guide our future thinking on media and migration. As such, scholars of media, communication, migration and technology will be stimulated to contribute to critical discussions on border politics and migration debates. The thematic focus of this conference is on media, migration and technology and all their possible linkages and intersections. While significant attention goes to digital technologies and social media, the organizers do aim for a broad focus that also includes traditional media, and aspects of media production, organization, consumption, representation and policy.

Details: http://goo.gl/ZrVXnJ