From Movement to Government: Formation of Leftist Film Policy in Russia, China and Cuba

This article follows the evolution of Marxist aesthetics and its approach to art and culture, examining the popular debates surrounding popular versus people’s cinema and the distinctions between high art and low art. It delves into the socio-political contexts of the three case studies of the USSR, China, and Cuba, exploring how these nations articulated their party ideologies and artistic frameworks during revolutionary movements and their subsequent transitions into established governance. After assuming authorial powers, these objectives were converted into policies. Each of these countries has progressed in a sequence, with the USSR paving the way for China, which then influenced Cuba. Drawing from earlier discussions of Marxist aesthetics, this study analyses these policies, demonstrating how cinema was used to promote revolutionary values and address significant socio-political challenges during tumultuous periods. Finally, the study explicates that the once-evolving model of people’s cinema in these countries has gradually withered away due to broader geopolitical factors, which deeply affected the smaller socialist countries and provincial leftist governments who have been consistently looking up to these superpowers for support and sustenance.