Through the International Security Assistance Forces AFPAK Hands program, detailed in my previous post, we have learned that much of the efforts towards Afghan media, on the part of ISAF and the international community, are directed towards the Afghan media who have the largest audience. Much of this feedback was received from media outlets themselves. However, there are many other media outlets who communicate to specific audiences.

At the New York Film Festival, three instant classics of engagé cinema -- one from Egypt and two from Iran (including BFF Oscar-winner A Separation) -- quite stunningly took on the weight of history. From the confines of house arrest, through a divorce drama, to the living, breathing expanse of the literal Arab street, engagé cinema is most hearteningly alive and well.

The Indonesian minister, said that deeply rooted cultural affinity and commonality between Iran and Indonesia prepares grounds for upholding relations and cooperation between the two countries. In cultural diplomacy, all parties should look forward to commonalties....

When Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi took the stage to accept the Oscar for A Separation, he spoke of his film as a counter narrative to talk of war and offer a view of Iran “through her glorious culture, a rich and ancient culture that has been hidden under the heavy dust of politics.”

When Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi took the stage to accept the Oscar for A Separation, he spoke of his film as a counter narrative to talk of war and offer a view of Iran “through her glorious culture, a rich and ancient culture that has been hidden under the heavy dust of politics.” During times of escalating political rhetoric, films can help shape and, as Farhadi hopes, reshape national images. For public diplomacy, the Oscars offer lessons not only in culture, but in the persuasive power of storytelling.

The Iranian Embassy opened "Iran Cultural Week" in Jakarta on Wednesday in an effort to open up a cultural exchange between the two allies.

Challenges to U.S. international broadcasting and public diplomacy continue to mount. Iran, joining China and Russia, also nourishes ambitions as a global power and is moving forward with soft-power advances in Latin America. (Not that there is anything “soft” about Iranian soft power.)

This year's Oscar for the best foreign film went to Iran, a country which is grappling with a tense international environment because of its nuclear program. One debate, always important to Iranians, is about the contribution of such movies to the Iranian image.