Cultural Economy Middle East

An EU-GCC knowledge exchange partnership

Our Mission

CEME is a research network comprising academics and cultural industry practitioners from across Europe and the Middle East. Our aim is to establish closer working relationships between CCIs in these two regions.

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Five key objectives:

• Building relationships between the creative cultural industries of the EU and GCC through knowledge exchange and collaboration
• Promoting and supporting CCIs as an economic engine for peace and cultural well-being
• Enhancing creative education and skills through collaboration with educational institutions
• Increasing employment opportunities and providing support for climate-friendly CCI development in the context of ongoing economic diversification efforts across countries
• Advancing the equitable development of CCIs through advocacy of equality, diversity and inclusion objectives within policy frameworks

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Our Work

• Provide a platform for knowledge exchange and the production of original research focusing on CCIs in the GCC and MENA regions
• Explore synergies and respond to opportunities for collaboration and dialogue between the EU-GCC regions.
• Research on knowledge and skills gaps that have been identified in previous EU reports. Including:
• Data and evidence development
• Creative education and skills
• Policy and partnerships
• Cultural and creative infrastructure
• CEME website

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Stone-by-stone: Building the Saudi Arabian Film Industry

• Qualitative research to understand how rapid changes within Saudi Arabia are being navigated by filmmakers, producers, distributors and film festival organisers.
• Interviewing the first generation of Saudi film industry workers to understand changes in the sector.
• The research facilitates closer relations between academics and industry within the EU-GCC.
• Focus on the equitable development of film industries in both regions.
• Delivering a conference paper at Media Industries 2024, King’s College London.

Film Industry Mapping

“The lack of consistent research and data on the CCIs plus the informality of large sections of the industry mean a true picture of the size and profile of this vital sector is hard to define. In coming years, it is vital that GCC countries develop robust data and evidence baselines to inform strategic development across the CCIs. Each GCC country will benefit from dedicated CCI mapping studies to underpin strategy and policy” (EU-GCC Dialogue 2023).

Cultural Development Fund

(16 cultural sub-sectors)

Ministry of Culture

(11 cultural sub-sectors)

Ithra

Film AlUla

Red Sea International Film Festival

Saudi Film Festival

AlUla Creates

Films and Shows

Film Commission

Visual Arts Commission

Ithra Production

Ithra Film Society

Ithra Cinema

Cinema Association

Funding +

commissions

Content Initiative

Filmmakers Programme

Daw’ Film Competition

101 Film Studio

Red Sea Film Foundation

Film Lodge

Film Souk

Film Fund

Ignite

Production market

Literary publishing

AlUla Studios

Film Saudi

Daw

48-hour Film Challenge

Interviews with Industry Professionals

Research outputs

• CONFERENCE: April 2024: Emerging Media Industries and the “Post-Oil” Cultural Economy of Saudi Arabia at Media Industries 2024, Kings College, London
• JOURNAL ARTICLE: Killick. A (2024) “Emerging Media Industries and the “Post-oil” Cultural Economy of Saudi Arabia” in International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics

Forthcoming

• WEBSITE: ceme-research.com
• PODCAST: Cultural Economy Middle East – An English language podcast to provide an accessible, public-facing platform for knowledge exchange and dissemination of our research
• BOOK: Edited collection of essays?