Film "The Ottoman Empire" BAMPFA. Connects the world of today in a new way. :

Having delayed on publishing this, I will just push the button now, considering what is happening in Turkey...the machinery of history churns on.

I was recommended to see a film, that was shown twice and sold out at BAMPFA and this showing also sold out;  Julia White Curator, told me I should see it.  She was right. 

" The Ottoman Empire" covered all the territories which are in dispute and have produced the most conflict since the Viet Nam War in my lifetime. Now that is not a very enticing introduction!


My Own Experience in the regions: I had so many thoughts during it; can I find them.  First of all, I worked in both  Kosovo, and in Macedonia, for the EU's Educational Reforms project, in the final stages, before their independence, as I taught English in a Peace Education context.   So I travelled in Montenegro, through Kosovo, and in the the historical sites in Macedonia, once a part of ancient Greece, and the home of Alexander the Great, and his father King Phillip of Macedon.  I have written about them in a memoir chapter. Kosovo was the most compelling environment due to Peace Keeping forces being on every corner, and yet, a whole world of art and culture had survived beneath the surface of the political environment.

 The Balkans were the most cherished part of the Ottoman empire because these states were the most open and modern. But, they were also attractive to Russia. Robert Kaplan is an authority in this region, and I had the pleasure of serving with him on the Policy Institute at the University of Pennsylvania in the 90's.
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Significance: The film was produced in Canada and was a terrific perspective on the Ottoman Empire which, as I noted, contain all the disputed states today.  The view of the film is that the boundaries and differences will continue to exist, and that the Western imposition has created more problems than it has solved.