This article is part of a dossier in partnership between SyriaUntold and openDemocracy's North Africa, West Asia page, exploring the emerging post-2011 Syrian cinema; its politics, production challenges, censorship, viewership, and where it may be heading next.
The National Film Organization has controlled the financing and the production of Syrian films as well as their distribution since its establishment in 1963, and continued to do so until its monopoly was shattered with the eruption of mass movements in Syria in 2011. This domination was a factor in barring Syrian spectators from Syrian cinema, with the exception of a small group of intellectuals, film aficionados, and artists. While most of the films produced since then were not projected in local movie theatres, most were allowed to participate in Arab and Western festivals frequented by cultural elites, to the detriment of their local distribution. There are certain special cases, however, when other forces are at play, where such a schizoid state of affairs is suspended.
