The enactment of Law No. 5224 on the Evaluation, Classification and Support of Cinema Films marked an important step in the development of independent cinema in Turkey. However, transformations in the political conjuncture over time have also been reflected in cultural and arts policies, bringing the relationship between the Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s support for cinema and the process of conservatization into focus. As the Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s policies regarding support mechanisms have increasingly paralleled the conservative character of political power, attempts have also been made to reshape the field of cinema through amendments to Law No. 5224 and the regulations issued pursuant to this Law. This study examines the functioning of the cinema support mechanism shaped by these regulatory changes through semi-structured interviews conducted with six representatives of the film industry, as well as documents, reports, and news articles concerning the Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s support schemes. The findings indicate that the growing influence of bureaucracy within the support boards, the Ministry’s decisive position in decision-making processes, shifting attitudes in response to the political conjuncture, ambiguity in film selection criteria, and a lack of transparency in support processes constitute the principal problems in the functioning of the support mechanism. These findings demonstrate that cinema support cannot be regarded solely as a mechanism of economic assistance; it may also function as an instrument enabling political power to intervene in the cultural sphere. Accordingly, the study approaches the Ministry’s cinema support mechanism as one of the hegemonic instruments that can function in shaping the cultural sphere.