Cinema on the Eve of the Cold War: International, National, and Local Interests in Turkey and the Motion Picture Admission Tax

Abstract

This article explores Turkey’s national cinema policy’s legal, economic, and geopolitical foundations during and after World War II. Focusing on the 1948 Municipal Revenues Law, which introduced differentiated admission taxes for domestic and foreign films, the study examines how this fiscal tool functioned as economic regulation and a mechanism of cultural protectionism. Drawing on archival records, parliamentary debates, diplomatic correspondence, and trade data, the article traces how Turkish cinema gained institutional ground against Hollywood’s dominance and Egyptian melodrama’s popularity. The analysis reveals how taxation policies, sectoral mobilisation, international agreements, and cultural diplomacy converged to open space for domestic film production. Situating Turkish cinema within broader Cold War dynamics and cultural imperialism debates, the article argues that national cinema policy was shaped at the intersection of internal industrial agency and external political pressures, challenging conventional accounts of postwar cultural development.