Research
CEME’s research explores the cultural economy of the Middle East, with a particular focus on the Gulf region’s rapidly expanding creative and media sectors. We investigate how cultural production—especially in film, digital media, and festival circuits—operates as both an economic strategy and a means of shaping national identity, social values, and international perception.
Our current work centres on the development of Saudi Arabia’s film industry since the lifting of the cinema ban in 2018. Drawing on interviews, policy analysis, and fieldwork at regional festivals, we examine institutional transformation, state–artist relations, and the role of women in shaping new creative infrastructures.
We prioritise qualitative methodologies—including in-depth interviews and focus groups with practitioners, policymakers, and cultural workers—as a means to uncover the lived experiences behind official policy and economic data. This approach provides insights that are often overlooked in quantitative research, offering a more nuanced and human-centred perspective on the region’s cultural and economic transformation.
CEME aims to inform academic, policy, and industry debates around cultural labour, creative sector funding, and transnational media exchange—connecting conversations between the Gulf, the UK, and beyond.
Project work
CEME’s current projects examine the development of the cultural economy in Saudi Arabia, with a specific focus on the film industry’s institutional and artistic evolution since the introduction of Vision 2030. Our work brings together academic research and industry engagement to better understand how creative economies function in rapidly transforming contexts.
Key recent projects include:
- The New Saudi Arabian Cinema: A Cultural Economy Perspective
A comprehensive study of the institutional infrastructure supporting Saudi Arabia’s emerging film sector. This research maps the role of government bodies, development funds, and festivals, revealing how cultural production is being mobilised as a tool of economic diversification and soft power. - The Politics of Representation in New Saudi Arabian Cinema
A textual analysis of films like Naga (2023), focusing on how filmmakers navigate state–artist relations through symbolism, genre, and strategic ambiguity. This project examines how film can function as both a site of creative expression and a medium of national discourse. - Women, Labour, and Equity in Saudi Film (WMEMC 2025 Presentation)
This forthcoming presentation at the World Media Economics and Management Conference (WMEMC) explores how Vision 2030 policies have shaped women's participation in the Saudi film sector. Using qualitative interviews and industry data, the project highlights both opportunities and ongoing barriers in film employment, especially for below-the-line workers.
All our projects combine cultural economy theory with qualitative field methods, including semi-structured interviews and practitioner focus groups. This approach offers rich insight into the experiences and motivations of those shaping the region’s creative future—insight often missed by purely statistical analysis.
Area intelligence
CEME provides in-depth, research-led insight into the political, institutional, and cultural dynamics shaping the creative economies of the Gulf. Our area intelligence work focuses on how national development strategies—particularly those tied to post-oil economic diversification—are reconfiguring cultural production across the region.
Our current emphasis on Saudi Arabia’s film and media sectors offers a grounded model for analysing how state-led reforms intersect with creative labour, global branding, and cultural policy. By combining qualitative methodologies with sector-specific analysis, we provide unique, fine-grained perspectives that go beyond top-down development narratives.
Looking ahead, we are actively exploring how this model can be applied across the wider Gulf, including:
- Oman, where recent investment in arts and heritage sectors signals new creative policy directions
- Kuwait and Bahrain, with longstanding traditions of media production undergoing redefinition
- The UAE and Qatar, where global cultural positioning strategies present distinct challenges and opportunities
CEME’s area intelligence is tailored to researchers, policymakers, and industry professionals seeking to engage meaningfully with the evolving landscape of Gulf cultural economies. Our aim is to generate actionable, context-sensitive knowledge that supports both scholarly inquiry and strategic development.
Contact Us Now
Fill out the form below to get in touch with us. We are here to answer any questions or provide assistance regarding our consulting services.