Updating the European Union’s Strategy for International Cultural Relations in a time of geopolitical turmoil: international EU film policy and the future of EU–Global South relations

The European Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport has called for a review of the European Union’s (EU) International Cultural Relations (ICR) strategy. How can the latter – and with it, the EU’s global cultural action – be improved? To answer this question, the article proposes reviewing ICR from the perspective of its beneficiaries in the Global South. Its underlying hypothesis is the following: despite the ICR’s collaborative, multi-level approach to global cultural action, significant implementation gaps remain, and appeals for justice continue to be justified. To test it, the article triangulates statements by South African film professionals regarding international EU film initiatives with a typology of justice claims. This helps to identify, on the one hand, persistent tensions between rhetoric and practice and, on the other hand, concrete policy pathways to strengthen ICR between the EU and countries in the Global South. The article connects EU cultural policy with international relations debates that suggest that we are living through a geopolitical tipping point, and argues that the Union’s standing in the emerging international order will depend on its response to rising calls for global justice.