Based on her dissertation submitted to Bogaziçi University in 2002, Asli Daldal takes up the question of how art and society interact. Daldal is primarily interested in sociological and political determinants which create the conditions for social realism in film. She considers in detail two specific cases, post-war Italy (1945-1952) and post-coup Turkey (1960-1965). Daldal links certain cinematic styles with the particular historical contexts, identifying the “social realism” of Turkish cinema and the “neo-realism” of its Italian counterpart. Comparing and contrasting the two cases according to socio-political and cultural theories, Daldal offers her own new theories on the integration of film studies, sociology and cultural studies.