Reorienting the Middle East – Film and Digital Media Where the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, and Indian Ocean Meet

The film and digital media in the Gulf have a complex history reflecting long-standing interconnections between the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, and Indian Ocean. Reorienting the Middle East examines past and contemporary aspects of film and digital media in the Gulf that might not otherwise be apparent in dominant frameworks, such as oil companies, Indian films, Western funding, Dubai's emergence in global film production, online platforms for performance art, film festivals, and short films made by citizens and migrants. It offers new methods to analyze the often-neglected littoral spaces between nation-states and regions and to understand the role of film and digital media in shaping dialogue between area studies and film and media studies.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 344 pages
Publication date: 16 January 2024
Publisher: Indiana University Press

The Arabian Peninsula's film and digital media narratives frequently revolve around desert landscapes, cutting-edge production facilities, and lavish festivals. However, there is a more intricate history that reflects longstanding interconnections between the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, and Indian Ocean. Just as these waters are fluid spaces, so too is the flow of film and digital media between cultures in East Africa, Europe, North Africa, South Asia, Southwest Asia, and Southeast Asia.

Reorienting the Middle East delves into past and contemporary aspects of film and digital media in the Gulf that might not otherwise be apparent in dominant frameworks. Contributors consider oil companies that brought film exhibition to this area in the 1930s, the first Indian film produced on the Arabian Peninsula in the late 1970s, blackness in Iranian films, the role of Western funding in reshaping stories, Dubai's emergence in global film production, uses of online platforms for performance art, the development of film festivals and cinemas, and short films made by citizens and migrants that turn a lens on racism, sexism, national identity, and other rarely discussed social issues.

Reorienting the Middle East offers new methods to analyze the often-neglected littoral spaces between nation-states and regions and to understand the role of film and digital media in shaping dialogue between area studies and film and media studies. Readers will find new pathways to rethink the limitations of dominant categories and frameworks in both fields.

Weight: 666g
Dimension: 229 x 152 x 15 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780253067579