As streaming platforms like Netflix have grown, political films they used to seek out, like The Dissident, on the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, are being shunned
Bryan Fogel's examination of the killing of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi had trouble finding a home among the companies … Tweets: @parismarx , @ennisnyt , @cliffordlevy , @jlcauvin , @fabiochiusi , @hatr , @anopensecret , @tariqkrim , @paulnemitz , @hshaban , @nytimesbusiness , @sub8u , @dlepeska , @joshfoxfilm , @amlivemon , and @brooksbarnesnyt See also Mediagazer Tweets: Paris Marx / @parismarx : “The desire for corporate profits have left the integrity of America's film culture weakened,” says Oscar-winning filmmaker Brian Fogel. The big streamers weren't interested in his doc about the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. https://www.nytimes.com/... Connor Ennis / @ennisnyt : Bryan Fogel's doc “Icarus” won an Oscar for Netflix. Jamal Khashoggi wrote for The Washington Post, owned by Jeff Bezos. Yet Fogel's new doc on Khashoggi's killing isn't streaming on Netflix, Amazon or anywhere else. @nicsperling examines https://www.nytimes.com/... Cliff Levy / @cliffordlevy : An Oscar winner made a documentary about the killing of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi — and the involvement of the Saudi crown prince. But streaming services didn't want the film. By @nicsperling https://www.nytimes.com/... J-L Cauvin / @jlcauvin : Netflix took Chappelle's Show off the air but couldn't find room for this: https://www.nytimes.com/... Fabio Chiusi / @fabiochiusi : “We're not trying to do ‘truth to power.’ We're trying to entertain” https://www.nytimes.com/... Hakan / @hatr : When Reed Hastings said: „We're not trying to do ‘truth to power.’ We're trying to entertain.", he meant it https://www.nytimes.com/... @anopensecret : An Oscar Winner Made a Khashoggi Documentary. Streaming Services Didn't Want It. Obviously the @NYT did not do the same type of story on how Hollywood suppressed @AnOpenSecret when it exposed pedophilia within entertainment. #anopensecret https://www.nytimes.com/... Tariq Krim / @tariqkrim : The gentrification of streaming media means also a lack of editorial courage. https://www.nytimes.com/... Paul Nemitz / @paulnemitz : #Netflix is dumming down the audience, shunning political films and documentaries. #Democracy #Media https://www.nytimes.com/... Hamza Shaban / @hshaban : “Mr. Fogel said he believed it was also a sign of how these platforms — increasingly powerful in the world of documentary film — were in the business of expanding their subscriber bases, not necessarily turning a spotlight on the excesses of the powerful.” https://twitter.com/... @nytimesbusiness : Bryan Fogel's examination of the killing of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi had trouble finding a home among the companies that can be premier platforms for documentary films. https://www.nytimes.com/... Subrahmanyam Kvj / @sub8u : When you are an online service, the whole world is your potential market. Also means your ability to take a stance, even if ever-so-small, is limited by sway of your local business in various markets. Great for biz, bad for consumers, terrible for creators https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/... David Lepeska / @dlepeska : Censorship? | Oscar-winner @bryanfogel made a feature doc on the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, & possible MBS involvement, and none of the top streaming services expressed interest. https://www.nytimes.com/... Josh Fox GreenNewDeal / @joshfoxfilm : I'm telling you. Distribution platforms are getting more and more timid. This is bad news for gutsy documentaries An Oscar Winner Made a Khashoggi Documentary. Streaming Services Didn't Want It. - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/... @amlivemon : Did he mention Khashoggi ran his uncles arms business and helped Iran vs Saudi interests? Or did he leave that part out? https://twitter.com/... Brooks Barnes / @brooksbarnesnyt : Why wouldn't Amazon or Netflix touch a pedigreed doc about the murder of WaPo columnist Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate? “The desire for corporate profits has left the integrity of America's film culture weakened.” Interesting story by @nicsperling https://www.nytimes.com/... See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
Bryan Fogel's documentary on Jamal Khashoggi's killing found no taker among Netflix and Amazon, the same platforms that once competed for exactly this kind of political film. The silence is consistent with the pattern the coverage has documented for years: when the Khashoggi scandal broke, Silicon Valley stayed quiet about its Saudi ties, the largest funding source for US startups, and SoftBank-led Saudi money kept flowing into deals afterward with little friction.
The shunning also extends a censorship story Netflix has been managing abroad: it has spent years navigating strict and vague censorship standards in markets like Turkey and India, and a 2023 investigation found self-censorship pervading Indian streaming as Amazon and Netflix backed down on daring films under pressure from Modi's government. The Dissident shows that logic arriving at the US home market.
First-order effects
- Fogel and distributors of similar political documentaries lose the streaming platforms' acquisition budgets and reach, forcing the film toward theatrical or independent channels with a fraction of the audience.
Second-order effects
- Streamers' content decisions now price in their commercial exposure to the subjects of their films — Saudi-linked capital and growth markets like India — effectively letting those relationships veto acquisitions without any stated policy change.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, the platforms that displaced linear TV as the main venue for documentary political speech become de facto gatekeepers whose foreign revenue and investor ties determine which dissents reach a mass audience — the same structural pressure already documented in India.
The trend: Streaming platforms are trading their role as champions of political documentary for commercial safety in the growth markets and capital relationships that fund their expansion.