Is the U.S. State Dept.’s Hollywood Outpost Toast?

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During the Trump administration’s intense focus on executive branch activities, a U.S. State Department branch based in Hollywood has stopped functioning. The website for American Film Showcase, a cultural diplomacy collaboration between the department and the prestigious School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California, is no longer accessible — and its Instagram and Facebook accounts have been shut down.

What’s going on?

On a Monday afternoon, a representative from the agency reassured The Hollywood Reporter that AFS remains part of the Department of State and its operations are still in progress. Meanwhile, a spokesperson from the USC School of Cinematic Arts mentioned that programs financed by the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs are being evaluated to make sure they adhere to President Donald Trump’s Executive Orders, including their public online presence.

Previously this past Monday, Trump replaced Democrat-selected members on the Kennedy Center’s board, a federally-funded performing arts organization in Washington D.C., with supporters instead. In a social media post, he stated “NO MORE DRAG SHOWS OR OTHER ANTI-PATRIOTIC CONTENT.” This action follows the dismantling of an essential influence component for our nation, the U.S. Agency for International Development, as directed by a high-profile committee led by Trump associate Elon Musk.

The Center on Public Diplomacy at USC, a research institution, has characterized AFS as an exceptional cultural diplomacy program that screens documentaries, many of which are provocative and sometimes critical of the U.S., abroad. AFS was established in 2012 during President Barack Obama’s first term, when Secretary Hillary Clinton was leading the State Department, who were often at odds with Trump. Given its emphasis on social justice issues, AFS may find itself conflicting with the political and policy agendas of the current conservative administration, commonly known as the “America First” movement.

Since its establishment, the AFS program has been overseen by Director Rachel Gandin Mark. In an interview with IndieWire back in 2015, she explained that the chosen projects usually address significant topics in modern American society, such as women’s and girls’ empowerment, youth empowerment, civil society, diversity, disability rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and environmental issues. To further this mission, these films are frequently showcased at U.S. embassies. For example, the climate change documentary Chasing Ice was screened in Mongolia, while the film The Case Against 8, focusing on LGBTQ+ rights, was shown in Estonia.

Representatives from AFS, tasked with leading workshops overseas and assisting in hosting international delegations in Los Angeles, have been a mix of seasoned professionals from the entertainment industry. This group includes individuals who have received accolades such as Oscars and Emmys, like editor Ephraim Kirkwood (known for The 1619 Project), director Bing Liu (renowned for Minding the Gap), and director Freida Lee Mock (acclaimed for Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision).

In a statement made to THR, a representative from the USC School of Cinematic Arts stated that our programming is geared towards fulfilling America’s wide-ranging objectives – such as fostering free speech and thriving economies based on creativity. Our efforts are part of various initiatives designed to foster friendly, harmonious connections between the citizens of the United States and those from other nations, achieved through academic, cultural, sports, and professional collaborations.

In 2018, Mark, who established the Arab Film Festival in L.A., served as a creative advisor for the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriters Lab in Jordan for several years, and now heads AFS, introduced another program backed by the State Department, known as the Middle East Media Initiative (MEMI), at USC. This initiative aims to boost the careers of Arabic TV writers, and according to USC, its status remains unchanged.

The American Film Showcase (AFS), receiving approximately $2 million annually in federal funding, has taken over initiatives from Cold War times that sought to uphold American values and counter global threats. Previous projects involved creating government-backed films as well as supporting film productions by major Hollywood studios. One consistent collaborator was Walt Disney, who aided U.S. efforts to strengthen ties with Latin America through the Good Neighbor policy by releasing ‘Saludos Amigos’ in 1943 and ‘The Three Caballeros’ in 1944. In 2023, Walt Disney Animation Studios collaborated with the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta to talk about their first feature film inspired by Southeast Asia – ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’, which was nominated for an Oscar. (Indonesia serves as a significant buffer against China’s influence in the region.)

The University of Southern California (USC), famed for its film school which consistently tops THR‘s list of ranked programs and is recognized as the most prestigious in the nation, has sustained a variety of long-term partnerships with federal entities. These collaborations encompass projects with NASA, FEMA, the Departments of Education, Defense, Homeland Security, Social Security Administration, Federal Reserve, National Institutes of Health, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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2025-02-11 17:55