Oscar Winner’s Doc The Dissident Examines Murder of Washington Post Journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Leia IdlibyFeb 27th, 2020, 2:26 pm
 

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Director Bryan Fogel, who previously won an Academy Award for Icarus, took on the murder of Washington Post journalist and Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in his latest documentary, The Dissident.

Khashoggi was killed on October 2018 at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, and the documentary follows the investigation into the murder.

The crime is infamous because it implicates the Saudi ruling family. Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has denied responsibility for the killing, despite CIA findings that he ordered the murder of the journalist.

“This story had all the elements,” Fogel said, explaining his decision to make the documentary.

“It had a journalist who had been killed for speaking out against his government, it had a social media component with a country interfering in freedom of speech, it had a dissident in Canada who could be the next Jamal, who’s willing to risk everything—who’s still risking everything—for freedom of speech,” the director added.

Fogel’s examination of the case additionally includes a look into Saudi surveillance and hacking of private computers and phones.

Despite Fogel’s Academy Award winning status, and his documentary’s impressive reviews, it doesn’t appear that a major studio has picked up The Dissident. New York Magazine and HuffPost contributor Yashar Ali blamed “Saudi influence” for Hollywood’s lack of interest in the film.

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