Cultural hegemony under totalitarian regimes: The Syrian cinema post 2011

Due to the lack of independent and private cinema in Syria, the government has taken control of the media in general and the cinema industry in particular. The government uses media, particularly cinema, to polish its image and establish the collective awareness of citizens in a way that serves its objectives of influencing the largest segment of the population. Like any other totalitarian regime, the Syrian regime aspiration to invest in cinema is obvious, as it seeks to polish its image through it, and to constitute the collective awareness of citizens in a way that serves its objectives in influencing the largest segment of society. While remaining in power for over 50 years (since 1970), the Assad regime (the Baath Party), represented by its institutions, controlled all aspects of life, using ideology and sovereignty as an excuse to impose this control. Economy, politics, literature, art, and even cinema, were the tools of the Syrian government to control and increase power, so this research focuses on the cinema and politics, and the way to impose ideology and power over art; use it to serve the ruler, especially after 2011, and the popular protests that erupted against the regime. In return, the government screened a series of films to serve its point of view. The final result I have reached is that the filmmakers raised political issues indirectly and directly by raising the value of the ruling regime and decreasing the value of the opposition. Keywords: Hegemony, Totalitarian regime, Politics, Ruling regime, Opposition.