Cinematic Culture in Syria: Between Mechanisms of Repression and Resistance

Abstract

Abbas explores and defines cinematic culture and how deeply this culture was enrooted in Syrian society from the beginning of the Syrian cinematic industry until the 1970s. His study also traces the transformations that began to affect Syrian cinematic culture at the start of the formation of Syria’s despotic regime, investigating the mechanisms of authoritarianism that caused these shifts, and, conversely, the mechanisms of resistance that were adopted by Syria’s cinema community and its public in order to prevent despotism from dominating the industry. Among these mechanisms are those that belonged to, or translated into, movements outside the social sphere, including movements of civic struggle, the formation of movie clubs, and events such as the Cinéma du Réel (Cinema of the Real) Festival, as well as those that formed part of aesthetic expression, including documentaries and creative aesthetic techniques employed in Syrian drama. Abbas also exemplifies Syria’s most prominent documentaries produced in recent years.