In President Obama’s landmark speech in Cairo, he envisaged an inter-connected world in which young people in Cairo and Kansas could talk to each other, and understand and know each other better. The internet and, increasingly in the Middle East, cell phones, provide a platform for making inter-cultural connections, but nothing will come automatically. The potential of these wireless networks to increase understanding and human connections will only be realized through thoughtful programs, planned with the needs and interests of all parties in mind.
 
Music, the universal language, establishes bonds where words fail. American music, whether jazz or hip hop, has found fertile ground in the Muslim world, particularly among youth. These inherent connections could be dramatically strengthened and extended through joint projects and programs. Film and television have a proven capacity to increase understanding and build connections across cultures through compelling narratives, and common stories and experiences. The increased accessibility provided by the internet has the capacity –as yet untapped – to further exploit the potential of film, television, and media to build ties between the U.S. and Muslim communities around the world.
 
This could be achieved through several project ideas in the areas of music, film, television, and new media that are offered for discussion. These ideas are supported by members of the Brookings Creative Network, a coalition of two hundred Arts, Culture, and Media leaders from the U.S. and from throughout the Muslim world. All these ideas stem from the premise that creative expression – music, film, TV, new media -- acts in many ways as America’s most effective Ambassador, and that with a bit more thought and funding, the potential of arts, culture, and media to positively impact the U.S.-Muslim world relationship could be realized.
 
•        Use social networking tools to build a sustainable cross-cultural community of interest around a cultural event, such as a concert, film festival, art exhibition. Capture the event through short videos shot by audience members and uploaded onto social networking sites. Use social networking tools to create long-term connections between participants; focus on establishing links between young people in the U.S. and Muslims around the world. “Test pilot” this concept to develop a model that can be replicated for other events.
 
•        Develop a major event with crossover appeal, such as an international hip hop or rock concert. Build in jam sessions and performances that combine western and eastern musicians. If possible, arrange to stage the concert twice, once in the Muslim world and once in the U.S., or, alternatively, broadcast the concert internationally with large screens. The type of social networking builds up, capturing, and follow through described above could be used to expand and strengthen the impact of the concert.
 
•        Develop a film festival featuring five independent U.S. films and five films from the Muslim world that would travel, along with the films’ directors, across the United States and the Muslim world. Film experts already have volunteered to curate such a  festival.
 
•        Adapt the French government’s Tournées program of distributing first-run French films to U.S. college campuses to films produced in, or with content about, the Muslim world (http://www.facecouncil.org/tournees/index.html). Funding would ideally come from a coalition of sources from the Arab and Muslim world, with initial seed funds from the United States.
 
•        Create a two-way online portal to encourage film co-productions and to facilitate on location productions by U.S. companies in the Muslim world. Staffed by a manager knowledgeable in film making in the Muslim world, the portal would present comprehensive, easily accessible information on film making in different Muslim countries, story ideas from writers in the Muslim world, and details regarding in-region technical capabilities that would allow U.S. film makers and companies to “shop” for scripts and locations. Through the portal, creators from the Muslim world would have access to U.S. film makers, and U.S.-based users would have ready information on film making in the Muslim world, as well as access to talent there.
 
•        American film crews shooting on location in Muslim majority countries (Egypt, Morocco and Jordan are the favored locations) provide valuable work and learning opportunities for emerging film makers in all aspects of the business. While films such as The Hurt Locker hire scores of locals, the potential to leverage the work experience into training and mentoring is precluded by tight deadlines dictated by tight budgets. With modest funds, film crews could linger on location for a few extra days to provide training and mentoring for local film makers. Each film shooting on location in Muslim majority countries is a potential mini film school. With funding to support an extra few days on site, that potential could be realized.
 
•        In the Middle East cell phone technology is developing more rapidly than in the United States. A coalition of organizations and individuals from the U.S. and the Muslim world has teamed up to create a new mobile social networking platform, on which a social network built around sharing and discussing films will be developed. This project would be piloted first in the Middle East, where cell technology is more advanced, and then introduced in the U.S. It has the potential to connect young people from Cairo and Kansas in ongoing conversations and growing networks.
 
•        Documentary films can change the current perception of US-Muslims relation, therefore, producing more documentaries  is an essential tool in “building bridges” and “supporting a real social change”. The idea is to support the young film directors & producers in venturing into the documentary films industry taking into consideration that documentary films production in most of the Arab/Muslims countries is not an independent “industry”, as it is still part of the general film industry. These documentaries will tackle the deeply-rooted stereotypes, misconceptions and misunderstanding as well as highlight the commonalities that all human beings share rather than the differences.
 
The ultimate goal is to set the model for the creation of sustained production of independent documentary films and to establish stronger documentary film production as one of the mainstream media productions. The project will also provide a venue to raise funds to produce documentary films that depict positive images of both the Arab/Islamic countries on the one hand and the U.S.A. on the other.
 
In the first phase of the project, the needed funds will be based on the donors’ capacity to financially support the film proposals submitted by young directors or teams. The selection of the funded proposals will be based on a competition between young directors/teams. The selection committee will involve experts in the field to judge  and evaluate which proposals are relevant to the objectives of the competition and are technically qualified for the implementation. The project will also give the teams of the selected projects trainings and the support to develop their ideas.
 
To sustain the project, there will be an incubation period that is expected to be around four years during which the donors are going to finance mainly the first phase of the project. However, after the four years, the project is excepted to establish its reputation and have its own revenues.
 
It is also suggested to make use of the available funds  in organizing a “festival” that could not only funds any future winning proposals, but also providing more sources of finance and sustainability.