Cinematic indoctrination as state policy — popular culture weaponized for regime legitimation. Historically Nazi and Soviet film as prime examples.
If you are making a film that is not primarily intended to entertain, but to bring an entire nation "into line" – then you look at how states use cinema as a propaganda machine. This is not simply "political film." This is conscious, centrally organized indoctrination through images. The Nazis called this "Ideological Cinema" (Propaganda Film) – a euphemistic formula for what the Goebbels apparatus forced into cinemas daily: heroic epics instead of art, emotional manipulation instead of narrative.
On set, the rules change radically. You have no artistic freedom – you have directives. While Soviet montage theory under Eisenstein was formally high-quality, it served the same function: to drive the viewer emotionally towards an ideological goal. Every cut, every piece of music, every character portrayal follows an agenda that does not come from the filmmaker, but from above. You see this clearly in Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will" – technically masterful, but every shot is a weapon. Or in Soviet agitprop films, where montage does not tell a story, but commands.
In practice, this means: Emotional Repetition instead of complexity. Strongly connoted symbols (flags, uniforms, heroic poses) are obsessively repeated. The opposing side is demonized, not portrayed with nuance. Music and sound are propagandistic tools – not atmospheric, but manipulative. Cuts are short, rhythmic, hypnotic. Everything aims at an unconscious adoption of a worldview.
The difference to "political cinema" (where a filmmaker expresses an opinion) lies in the structure: there is no artistic distance, no ambiguity – the message is absolute. This also made these films technically interesting for film history: they show how extremely montage, lighting, and music can be used to shape consciousness. But this is craftsmanship in the service of a totalitarian machine. You recognize it immediately in the editing – every decision serves not the story, but suggestion.