are you surprised there is not more pushback, given what happened with khashoggi? i think there was this two year lull where nbs and the kingdom receded, they tried to take a back seat, not be so public, and work on domestic issues. so, that is what we have been sort of witnessing over this two year period, and with the sale of newcastle, i think this is a sort
the same question i asked jim, is does it have real world implications, in terms of what they are seeing? does it give the saudis any editorial sway in what netflix views are seeing? we see tiny bits of that and i would say, unlike whatjim was saying, i think one of the major effects is a kind of.the hesitation that western producers have now. can they.um. can they create something that is very critical of the saudis without risking losing their shirt in the process? there was one instance which, of the documentary called the dissident made by an oscar winning film director, it came out injanuary last year, it could not get distribution because it was about the murder ofjamal khashoggi. it took a very long time for that documentary to be picked up by anybody. and they were very clear reasons why. i mean, netflix screened it at, or came to the screening of it at the sundance film festival and took a pass on it, as did everybody else.
of signal that people are willing to turn the page, and as vivienne described, with so many companies still looking for markets, western companies have not been very successful or able to push back on human rights issues, which in the kingdom, go beyond the brutal murder ofjamal khashoggi and also, you know, worthwhile elevating and mentioning the activists and women and journalists are detained also in the kingdom. but the market is hugely appealing. there is a very young population that is looking to benefit from the social liberalisation that was granted by mohammed bin salman, so there is a domestic dynamic here to the sports washing of the media washing that is taking place, and the soft power projection is very much tied to domestic drivers of reform in the kingdom. and of course it has broader regional and international implications as well.
companies in riyadh. and, actually, the interesting thing is that you and i can now click on netflix and see what they have produced. and they are very unusual and rather surprising. these are made by young cutting edge film directors, of which there are many in riyadh, and they are creating tv series and movies that are very clearly critical of rich saudis, possibly the royals, although that is a little bit less obvious. they explore, you know, the repressed sexuality. they are using the medium to express themselves in a way that i think might be quite surprising to western audiences. interesting. you mentioned just then, the murder ofjamal khashoggi, that was only a few years ago and there was outcry across the media, across the world, many parts of the world about that. are western media companies not seeing any pushback
they explore, you know, the repressed sexuality. they are using the medium to express themselves in a way that i think might be quite surprising to western audiences. interesting. you mentioned just then, the murder ofjamal khashoggi, that was only a few years ago and there was outcry across the media, across the world, many parts of the world about that. are western media companies not seeing any pushback for their engagement with saudi arabia? very, very little. and in fact, khashoggi s murder which happened exactly three years ago came only six months after the crown prince and nbs did this major trip around