UNESCO'S Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions - International Obligations and Local Priorities

The aim in this talk is to evoke some of the challenges of implementing multi-level policy initiatives. The focus is on the 2005 UNESCO Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, on Denmark as a signatory, and on this small country’s film-related Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and Public Sector organisations (PSOs). Initially, I consider the following questions: To what extent does the Convention motivate policy formation at the level of film-related CSOs/PSOs in Denmark? How visible is the Convention in the context of the activities, self-understandings, and strategic talk of film-related CSOs/PSOs in Denmark? How might the prospects for the Convention’s vitality and success be improved in the Danish context? What do the striking shifts of emphasis in Denmark’s quadrennial reports to UNESCO regarding the country’s implementation of the Convention signify? I subsequently consider three case studies, each of them related to Denmark’s quadrennial reports to the 2005 Convention. The case studies show that Denmark’s commitment to the Convention has been seriously affected by the government-mandated closure of the Danish Centre for Culture and Development in 2016, that Convention-consistent measures have gone unreported, and, finally, that Convention-consistent initiatives have emerged for reasons having little to do with UNESCO and its priorities.

Mette Hjort is Professor of Film and Screen Studies at the University of Lincoln and, until recently, Chair Professor of Humanities and Dean of Arts at the Hong Kong Baptist University. In recognition of her contributions to the field of small nations and film, Mette was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Transnational Cinema Studies by the University of Aalborg in 2017. In 2019 her research was featured in the SCMS’ Fieldnotes project focusing on “foundational scholars” (in conversation with Missy Molloy, Victoria University of Wellington). Mette has served on the Board of the Danish Film Institute (appointed by the Danish Ministry of Culture) and currently serves on the Board of MACE. Her most recent publication is the co-edited volume Companion to Motion Pictures and Public Value (Wiley-Blackwell 2022). Her current research focuses on motion pictures in the context of care, health and well-being.