An investigation into the determining power of ideological context over cinema: Turkish "art" cinema after 2000

Ideology, while being one of the most complex concepts in the social sciences, holds a significant position in examining the relationship between systems of thought and mechanisms of power within the social structure. In order to sustain its hegemony, the dominant class employs ideology as a means to reproduce the conditions of production and stands ready to utilize all apparatuses under its control in this process. Such reproduction does not always occur through direct coercion but may also be achieved in more implicit forms. In this way, the internalization of the relevant ideologies by society becomes more readily attainable. The ruling classes may construct the reality they seek to impose upon society through the cinematic apparatus. Cinema, while being an art form, simultaneously constitutes an industrial product that, by virtue of its technical capacity, is able to capture, construct, and commodify reality. Its very existence requires access to both the means and relations of production, the control of which resides once again with the dominant class. It is therefore an expected outcome that films produced with purely commercial concerns reproduce the dominant ideology voluntarily. However, such tendencies can also manifest themselves in films that claim artistic weight. This phenomenon is intrinsically linked to power and capital. In this context, the primary aim of the present study is to reveal the impact of ideological frameworks on the content of art cinema. In parallel with the character of political power, Turkish art cinema may be evaluated within a quarter-century period following the 2000s, owing to the distinct governmental stance that emerged in this era. Accordingly, the sample of this study has been selected from art films produced during this interval. The selected films were analyzed through narrative analysis, further supported by the approach of ideological film criticism. By examining how conflict and its parties are constructed, the study sought to determine whether these films tend to challenge or reproduce the dominant ideology. The findings suggest that, in Turkish art cinema after the 2000s, films attempting to offer a critique of social structure often fail to explicitly identify the objects of their critique, nor do they present direct or indirect solutions to the problems within that structure. Instead, social issues are observed to be aestheticized and transformed into mere narrative material. Endings are frequently left open-ended, emphasizing a cyclical or inevitable condition. In this sense, rather than embodying critique, art cinema is dominated by a pessimistic expression, in which codes reproducing the dominant ideology are deployed. This outcome illustrates not merely the decisions of individual directors but the determining force of the ideological context itself. Ultimately, it is expected that filmmakers, who constitute a particular segment of the intellectual strata of society, utilize their technical mastery to move beyond mere expressions of critique and instead, through collective effort, present a genuine conception of counter-hegemony. Keywords: Film criticism, ideology, capital, Marxism, Turkish art cinema