From joint collaboration to single window clearance - an Indian delegation would be showcasing the country's "soft power" at the ongoing Toronto International Film Festival. Led by Information and Broadcasting Secretary Bimal Julka, the team, which arrived here on Sep 6, will share details about the country's strength as a film shooting destination for foreign producers and would promote joint collaborations amongst stakeholders, said an Information and Broadcasting Ministry statement. 

Hollywood triumphed in China this summer afterTransformers: Age of Extinction broke all previous box office records there, selling over $300 million worth of tickets against a $244 million U.S. take. But jubilation over the film's Chinese success has been dampened somewhat by jeers from major news outlets in the West that Transformers 4 was yet another example of Hollywood's selling out to China. Critics of the film point to its numerous Chinese product placements, generously featured Chinese landmarks, cameos by Chinese pop stars, and a pro-Chinese-government message.

Three weeks ago, UK Jewish Film began receiving anxious emails and phone calls from the Tricycle Theatre, the north London home of the UK Jewish film festival for the past eight years. The board asked to be allowed to view in advance all of the films that were made with Israeli backing in order to approve their content. When the UKJFF dismissed this as censorship, the Tricycle conceded the point. But it refused to back down on another demand: that the festival should hand back the small percentage of its funding that came from the Israeli embassy. 

With Narendra Modi saddled in the Prime Minister’s Office strongly and effectively, the nation is moving towards evolving and utilising its status as a soft power.  India’s achievements in areas like films, education and broadcasting are expected to help enable this quest of the Modi government. 

When the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office released details of its North Korean programme spending this week, some eyes were immediately drawn to the £287.33 the government paid for rights to show the BBC’s Sherlock at the Pyongyang Film Festival in 2012.

Throughout Beijing, images of Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and other protagonists in the latest Transformers film stare from bus station billboards, shopfront windows and even a statue near Tiananmen Square. As US film studios look further afield for profits, the Hollywood sign now looms over China.

For the third year, the U.S. State Department is funding the University of Southern California's American Film Showcase, a $3.3 million program that sends American documentary filmmakers and their movies around the world to show them a side of America they may not know.

Look out, mainland China: Batman, cloaked in the cause of Hong Kong independence, is coming to get you, along with the cast of 2012's special-effects filled, genre-busting summer extravaganza Cloud Atlas.