Flo Martin Looks at Moroccan Cinema as a Transnational Player

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I would like to say that I’m a cinema fan, but I leave that to my sisters who are steeped in the craft and have well-defined perspectives that make for great family conversations, including our in-laws.  There is so much to enjoy in cinema today. The diversity, quality, and sometimes quirkiness of foreign films in particular make them quite engaging.

I can remember my university days when I was first exposed to films that had to have subtitles…strange experience for a small town teen from Western Pennsylvania. Today, international films have become a staple of film festivals all over the US, no longer confined to college campuses or arts cinemas. I­­t’s hard not to find films that satisfy, even if you’re not a critic or film buff. And, as I am learning, Moroccan films are among the best in Africa and the larger region.

The Middle East and North Africa were hotbeds of sophisticated (non-Bollywood genre) productions beginning in the 60s, with Lebanon leading the way to rival Egypt. It produced only a small number each year, but it became a center for film study, and today, six universities have cinema arts programs which trained many of the professionals who went on to start film centers in the Gulf. Most of the Arab film community today got their training in France or Lebanon.

As Wikipedia points out, “Films from Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestine, Syria and Tunisia are making wider and more frequent rounds than ever before in local film festivals and repertoire theaters.” In Washington, DC, where I live, there are at least three annual film festivals hosting Arab cinema productions and all are well attended.

So when a friend at Goucher College let me know that one of its professors, Dr. Florence (Flo) Martin was participating in a three-year Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) (UK) grant to “analyze the rise of Moroccan cinema over the last two decades from relative obscurity to a position where it is arguably now amongst the most important national cinemas within Africa and the Arab world, ” I was intrigued.

So I set out to find out how someone from France, a Professor of French and Francophone Cinema and Literature from Goucher College iin nearby Baltimore, MD, became part of a film project in the UK.  So I contacted Dr. Martin, Flo, to find out about the project and her own interest in Morocco. She said that she came from Paris to Goucher where she had worked previously as a French assistant and instructor both at Goucher and at Randolph-Macon College. She created a Study Abroad Program in Paris for Randolph-Macon, which she directed for several years as she was completing her PhD dissertation.

Dr. Martin then spent a year at the University of Exeter (UK) directing Goucher College’s Study Abroad Program at the school, writing about Maghrebi cinema, and teaching French and Francophone Cinema Studies at Exeter. While there, she met Professor Will Higbee, Professor of Film Studies and French, who has a particular interest in immigrant, transnational, and diasporic cinemas, and has written several seminal books on North African cinema. Professor Higbee recruited Dr. Martin as his senior investigator for the AHRC grant.

On a Role

By this time, she has already written a paean to Bessie Smith followed by several articles and books on women in North Africa cinema, focusing on how their “revolutionary voices” were given new outlets by film. According to the AHRC website, “The project aims to explore the critical and commercial success of Moroccan cinema through a transnational lens, analyzing the global reach of this ‘small’ national cinema…The project places a strong emphasis on collaboration with filmmakers, festivals, policy makers and other industry figures and has partnerships with ESAV (Marrakech), the London Film School and The Africa in Motion Film Festival (Edinburgh),”

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Part of the project involves bringing together diverse players in film at a symposium at the Marrakech International Film Festival in December. Cinema professionals, critics, academics, and policy-makers will gather to exchange ideas that contribute to a deeper understanding of the project’s themes. As a prelude to the symposium, there was a competition for young filmmakers to submit two short films representative of their work. From 60 entries, two filmmakers will be chosen to spend a semester at the London School of Film Studies, where they will undertake collaborative work with others and become part of the School’s international network.

[A commercial interruption – The Marrakech festival, (FIFM) – was started in 2000 and has become one of the most prestigious events on the continent and Europe, drawing talent, directors, producers, critics, and film lovers from around the world. It is held every December.]

Dr. Martin describes Moroccan filmmakers as “agile,” able to collaborate with others in many countries to produce their films. And she believes that Moroccan cinema is currently “trying to figure out where it’s going.” It is “unique in that it speaks to global audiences and those at home in ways that are no longer encoded but are more direct and open, which is what caused the uproar over the Moroccan film ‘Much Loved.’ It was too raw, too direct for some.” [If you don’t know, the film was banned before it even made it into Morocco. It deals with the life of a prostitutes in Marrakech – read about it here.] She also listed “Adios Carmen,” which recounts in the Amazigh language the history of Tangier and northern Morocco, as emblematic of the new films that speak directly to audiences.

Earlier this year, Flo spent several months in Tangier working on her new book about Farida Benlyazid, an icon among filmmakers in Morocco, who introduced her to many young film aspirants who provided Dr. Martin with their perceptions of their craft and their country. Not one to slow down, Flo is already planning for the next steps after the symposium in Marrakech; after all, the grant is only for three years! Given her prodigious output so far, this project will define for quite some time the regional and transnational impact of Moroccan cinema.

 

Bill Murray at 15th Marrakech International Film Festival image from sg.entertainment.yahoo.com

Too Few Solutions from Algeria’s Leadership for Economic Woes

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The economic news for Algeria, tied to its opaque political-business regimen, is hardly heartening. Despite the recent decree of yet another attempt at reform, the country remains stagnated within a system that inspires little confidence in international investors and drives away its talented youth looking for opportunities elsewhere.

Robert Looney in Foreign Policy, argues that the country has done little to a significantly change its business culture, characterized by an interlocking coterie of politicians and businesses that still regard foreign investment as a Trojan horse for breaking their stranglehold on the commercial life of the country. Worse still, the country “is perceived to be among the world’s 10 most corrupt.” Its indicators are all moving in the wrong direction as “Fiscal and trade deficits have shot up, international reserves are falling rapidly, and the currency has been devalued by nearly 30 percent.”

Similar negative outcomes are project for GDP growth, which will end up around half of last year, largely due to the over-reliance on all things hydrocarbon. Looney paints a damning picture. He asks, “Will the new strategy [New Economic Growth Model] be the stabilizing force the government needs? If Algerian history and international experience are any indication, the answer is no.”

He goes on to note that on critical indicators such as quality of governance, rule of law, control of corruption, government effectiveness, and regulatory quality, it ranks below all of its North African neighbors. Algeria is unable to mobilize its population of 40 million, shrinking foreign reserves now around $150B, and proximity to Europe and Francophone African countries to take steps as its neighbor Morocco has done to implement a more sophisticated and open investment regime.

Looney mentions that there are “too many vested interests with a stake in blocking economic, social and political reforms have been created. Since it appears that the new reform plan was designed precisely by such vested interests in the corrupt government inner circle, it is unrealistic to expect the plan to set off a virtuous circle of reforms.”

Downward Trends

Some indications of how far Algeria has yet to go were noted in an article in the Sada Journal. It says that “This new approach has failed to convince some Algerian economists, who insist the current system needs a wholesale transformation, including tackling the structural obstacles that deter foreign investors or the emergence of a dynamic private sector.”

ITs over-reliance on hydrocarbons has stagnated Algeria's development

Over-reliance on hydrocarbons has stagnated Algeria’s development

This recommendation flows from the assumption that needed reforms, which would, among other steps, shift trade and investment responsibility to technocrats, free the financial and monetary system from its political albatross, provide transparency to contracting and commercial laws, and accept international accounting and banking standards, would be forthcoming. Not likely.

The basic structure of the economy, under the new model, like Saudi Arabia, is meant to move from its dependence on hydrocarbons to a more diversified economy. While the kingdom has Prince Mohammed bin Salman as the cheerleader-in-chief for Vision 2030, there is no comparable leadership in Algeria. It is ironic that it hosted the most recent meeting of OPEC, which will only continue to make it difficult to wean itself away from hydrocarbons if the price of oil even incrementally rebounds, thus making it easy for the Algerian leadership to once again postpone needed reforms.

The latest figures from Algeria paint a very difficult lie ahead. According to BMI Research, using Algerian government sources, “Cuts in public spending, mainly affecting capital expenditure, and higher taxes and import duties will be negative for investment and consumption. While Algeria’s remaining fiscal buffers will help to delay a more dramatic fiscal and economic adjustment, the next few years are likely to see subdued growth and rising macroeconomic challenges.”

The problem with business as usual is broad and deep. For example, due to declining hydrocarbon exports, the trade deficit went from a $4.3B surplus in 2014 to a $13.7B deficit in 2015, with the rate continuing throughout 2016. As the BMI report points out, “With investment largely dependent on public spending, there are few other domestic sources to pick up the slack. Private investment has long been constrained by Algeria’s byzantine operating environment, marked by difficult access to credit and numerous regulations and time-consuming procedures.”

There can be little satisfaction to watching Algeria weaken itself by continuing to bring on its own debilitation by continuing to rely on inadequate assumptions for economic strategies. Even the agreement with China to build and run a new port project valued at some $3.5B will not alleviate the long term consequences of failing to restructure and relaunch its economy based on a globally competitive series of assumptions that takes advantage of the keen human resources in the country.

 

Image: BBC.com

Building Resilient Communities to Combat Terrorism

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Two recent publications tackle the issue of state fragility and policy choices for the US in addressing vulnerable countries and communities. An inaugural paper directed at the incoming administration, is a result of a joint project by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Center for a New American Security, and the United States Institute of Peace. It is aptly titled “U.S. Leadership and the Challenge of State Fragility,” and is co-authored by William J. Burns, Michele A. Flournoy, and Nancy E. Lindborg, all veterans of the US government, respectively at the State Department, Department of Defense, and USAID.  Additional Policy Briefs are already being published “to discuss the implications of fragility on existing U.S. tools, strategic interests, and challenges.”

The second is a series of blogs being published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI), which deals with “supporting democratic resilience to violent conflict.” Both efforts seek to focus conceptual and policy-making energy on lessons learned since our involvement in Afghanistan and how the US can avoid the pitfalls of what had been called “nation-building” and other efforts to promote democracy and governance in emerging political societies.

‘State Fragility’ poses four criteria for making policy choices: clearly articulating US priorities;  allocating limited expertise and resources;  and building on international support and and local capabilities for building resilience.  What is of particular interest is the assumption that those countries that are managing their affairs are less of a priority in this series because the failures of fragile states have a higher probability of destabilizing the country and surrounding nations.

In the MENA region, this means that more effective state actors such as Morocco will have to continue to expend high levels of energy and resources to combat extremist forces that seek to undermine its security, stability, and prosperity. Others working to implement a comprehensive CVE strategy, such as Tunisia, or those with a go-it-alone approach based on local sensibilities, i.e. Algeria, will have to rely primarily on its own capacity to continue the fight against radicals.

Protecting Democratic Gains

In this context, the NDI series aims directly at what we know will enable the path to democracy for those countries already committed to that mission. Although the pace of democratization may be too snail-like for some observers, there can be no doubt that the trend toward greater political accountability and local decision-making is becoming more prevalent in countries not in conflict in the MENA region.

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Why is this critical? As the NDI paper points out, “A key goal of democratization is peaceful politics. Political battles may be inevitable, but in stable democracies they are not waged by armed groups, but through institutions such as elections, parliaments, the media, and civil society organizations.”

Morocco, on the eve of its second parliamentary election since the new constitution was adopted in 2011, recognizes the crucial value of building political institutions resistant to political manipulations. The process has been and continues to be a lengthy one with several moving parts: local elections reflecting the regionalization policy of devolving more political decision-making to locally elected officials, a judiciary and election commission increasingly independent of the central government, a cabinet lead by the party that garners the largest number of votes, and greater freedom of appointments by the government rather than the palace, among other factors.

There are many studies that indicate that countries that mature into full democracies “have the lowest levels of violence towards their own citizens and are more peaceful neighbors than autocratic states.” Thus NDI engages countries that are evolving their democratic institutions, policies, and values.

Morocco is consolidating its democratic advances by empowering civil service organizations to act as advocates and service providers, pressing political parties to build constituencies based on policies and capable candidates, and prodding Parliament to take significant responsibilities for building an accountable process for debating and enacting legislation.

Tunisian faces as many internal as external challenges ranging from manipulations by traditional power centers to sustain the status quo,  parliament that struggles to move out of crisis mode, and rapidly evolving security services to combat internal and external threats.

As the NDI blog points out, its work is to build “conflict resilience at all of these levels – institutions, policies, and norms –  simultaneously, by promoting peaceful elections, bridging conflict divides, supporting effective post-conflict transitions, and ensuring citizen security and inclusive political processes.”

Through its programs in Morocco and Tunisia, NDI promotes the adoption of effective strategies that enable the country to evolve its democratic capabilities. In these efforts, NDI’s programs are strongly facilitated by King Mohammed’s commitment to enhancing the capacities of all members of Moroccan society to take up their full roles and responsibilities as citizens.

In Tunisia, democracy capacity-building is hampered by the need “to foster a more representative political environment where political parties compete effectively on behalf of citizens’ interests, parliament conducts responsive legislating and oversight, and civil society plays an active role in overseeing the political process,” efforts which require a degree of internal stability which is still evolving.

The MENA region needs success stories to encourage citizens to press for needed reforms rather than opting out of politics as usual or turning to more militant alternatives. It is in America’s interests to consistently and sustainable support its friends.

 

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