Turkey ogles at Africa

That African cinema is going around the world is not surprising, but when it comes to a participation in Turkish festivals and moreover to a national events, it becomes intriguing.
The Adana Golden Boll Film Festival was organised from the 17th to the 25th of September in the rich capital of the Turkish south west. This 18th edition tells a bit about the orientation of the Turkish policy towards Africa. In addition to traditional participation of north African films, some black African ones were shown to a curious local public.
That North African films are programmed in such festival, that goes without saying. Looking at the evolution of the situation of these countries, all festivals of the world are celebrating the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and the other still grumbling societies. Quite all festivals are having a section dedicated to the so-called “Arab Spring”.
The participation of some films from the Mediterranean sea was actually a tradition in this festival taking place in a region which is very closed to the Arab world and which has a historical connection with the northern part of Africa. It was a part of the ottoman (Turkish) empire for around five century until the establishment of the European colonization in the 19th century.
What is new this year is the participation of black African films. A Screaming man by Chadian filmmaker Mahamat-Saleh Haroun and Soul boy by young Kenyan filmmaker Hawa Essuman took part in the section dedicated to a panorama of international cinema.
Both of them where indeed big success since two years ago. The first was in competition in Cannes film festival and won the jury price; the second discovered in Rotterdam Film Festival doesn’t stop running from a festival to another showing a small Kenyan story.
It is not a lot, one could say. But still for a Turkish film festival, which is moreover a national one, it is quite surprising. The two films do really have an international success, but their presence at that moment precisely, shows a special will to let Turkish audience see African images and to show Africans, that they could be interesting to Turkish people and policy.
The growing economy of turkey needs new areas, and new markets. Just like for china and the western world, Africa is an economical challenge, and culture can always help to make things easier. Yet it is always frustrating to see that culture is only used for other purposes.
Indeed our continent is an object of competition between world’s big powers. After the colonial times and the neo-colonial control of African economies came the times of the way to deal with the concurrence of the Chinese invasion of African soil and markets. The new deal is to face the new Turkish ambition.
With its growing economy, and the strategic role it is willing to play in the renewal of the north African societies, Turkey is a serious concurrent to the traditional hegemonies in Africa. For many reason, it has even a chance to play a leading role.
In the north of the continent it is already quite done. The historical presence and the identity of religion (Islam) in addition to the geographic proximity, help a lot to invade a very liberated markets and temporarily open to all kinds of infiltrations.
For example, the Islamic political parties in both Tunisia and Egypt consider the AKP (party of the actual Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan) as an example of political Islam. In both countries Muslim brotherhood is a serious candidate to get the power and at least to play a key role in the future political system in the two countries.
Already before the revolution, Turkish investments in the region were growing in a notable manner. A Turkish company could win, years ago already, the contract to build the biggest airport in Africa in Tunisia. The new policy in the region is going to strength this orientation and Turkey is going to be the leading country in the process of reconstructing Libya.
This is going to be only the beginning. Once this is insured, the hegemony will be willing to extend its presence in the black continent. We would see in the near future Turkish Prime Minster going around in sub-Saharan countries with hundreds of Turkish businessmen and investors. There is no hope to see in the delegation one single filmmaker or producer, this is for sure.
Films are only nice to show in temporary events as entertainment. When it comes to serious things like investing, buying and selling, these people are useless. Will filmmaking or distributing ever be of some kind of interest for politics, this is not going to be tomorrow.
However a film festival can very often reveal the strategic, political and economic orientations of a country.
Read Also http://www.africareview.com/Arts+and+Culture/Turkey+takes+African+cinema+out+on+a+movie+date+/-/979194/1244276/-/13t8qp0/-/index.html