Kingdom of Silence

Director: Rick Rowley 
Executive: Producer Alex Gibney 
Year: 2020 
Duration: 98’  
Country: USA 
Language: English 
Category: Crime and Conspiracy 
Category Sponsor: Hula
Topics: Crime, Journalism, Conspiracy

An in-depth look at Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s life, work and murder.

The murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi shocked the world. The cold-blooded and gruelling execution cannot be imagined and will remain the stuff nightmares are made of.  
 
Director Rick Rowley and Executive Producer Alex Gibney bring a compelling profile not just of Khashoggi, but of the United States’ relationship with Saudi Arabia. It charts a quixotic path, from young reporter to self-exiled critic of his homeland. In an ever-changing world, Khashoggi’s views evolved from an Islamist to a more liberal, secular perspective, but his patriotism never wavered.  
 
The killing of Khashoggi, strangled and dismembered, his remains never found, was such a shocking story that it astounds how quickly it settled under the dust of other news. The film debuting nearly three years later, is a disturbing jolt to our collective humanity and conscience — if we still have one. 

Kingdom of Silence’s aim is not simply to serve as a memorial, or as muckraking, but to capture Khashoggi's career in all its contours and contradictions against a backdrop of changing geopolitics.  
Ben Kenigsberg; New York Times