The history of cinema in the Western Kurdistan, or Rojava cannot
be studied separately from the Syrian cinema. In fact, one can
claim that a cinema with distinct features has not yet been
developed in Rojava, and one cannot observe signs of intention
toward making film with different identities among the directors.
What we have is the combination, or the pure imitation of Syrian
cinema or to some extent Turkish cinema. Hence, we should
begin with a short introduction on Syrian cinema.
In 1908, a café in Aleppo was the first place in Syria, where a
movie was shown. Later, the Ottoman official system established
the first movie theatre in Damascus, which was burned in less
than a month.
There was some attempts for making people familiar with cinema,
but the role of the French was more effective. They played a
bilateral role; they imported the necessary facilities and
knowledge of cinema into Syria and they were also the ones who
established the censorship in the cinema industry in Syria.
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