Film Festival Film #3: How to Start Your Own Country

[bcholmes]

This was a funny movie. My big regret is that it skips any hard questions. Questions like "at what point should Quebec be considered a country?" or "Should the United Nations have delegates from First Nations countries?" The examples that it visit tended to be somewhat eccentric little nations hither and yon. We got to meet President Baugh of the Republic of Molossia -- one of the more modest micronations. One must, of course, visit Sealand -- the tiny nation in the middle of the Northern Sea. Sealand is interesting in that they've pushed on some legal barriers and have won some basic cases.

Seborga was much more interesting. In continuous existence since the 900s, and with a population of over 300 people. They feel that they've been in existence far longer than the "official" nation-state that surrounds it: Italy.

I hadn't known about The Principality of Hutt River Province, the second-largest nation on the continent of Australia, but now I am.

The film visits some interesting projects. One artist/University professor has an almost art project (?) to instantiate a New Free State of Caroline. The guy who invented the Segway has his own nation on North Dumpling Island.

There are interesting interviews with academics and people at the United Nations. And some interesting factoids came up. Apparently the Czech Republic does not recognize the nation of Liechtenstein. Kosovo was a tricky example. Canada recognizes Kosovo as a nation. But why? And why don't we recognize Taiwan as a nation? (That answer is a bit more obvious). Someone in the film said that 100 different countries recognize Palestine as a nation.

I often think about the recognition of Haiti as a nation. Very few countries recognized Haiti as a nation in 1804. The US, the other major republic in the hemisphere, didn't recognize Haiti as a country until the 1860s. That was a decision that was clearly motivated by a lot of racism. But is there a litmus test for when such recognition is "legit" or not? Apparently not much of a litmus test. But there are some rough guidelines. You have to have a territory. You have to have a permanent population. There's no clear process for being recognized.

I think I would have been happier if the film broached some even tougher questions than it did. But it was a fun and enjoyable film for what it was.

One last point: this came up during the Q&A. Forming your own nation seems like it's a guy thing. There are very few women who secede from the nation, it seems.