Khashoggi filmmaker hopes UK reconsiders its Saudi relationship
Bryan Cranston talks to Georgia Humphreys about his new drama Your Honour
The US director of a new documentary about the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi has said he hopes viewers are inspired to demand Boris Johnson reassesses the UK'S relationship with Saudi Arabia.
Mr Khashoggi, who had been critical of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was murdered inside the Saudi Consulate in Turkey in 2018.
Turkish officials allege Mr Khashoggi was killed and then dismembered with a bone saw inside the consulate.
His body has not been found. Mohammed has been accused of personally ordering the killing, with the US senate passing a resolution saying he is responsible, the CIA reportedly coming to the same conclusion and a UN report finding there was "credible evidence" implicating him.
The prince denies the allegations.
Directed by Bryan Fogel, who won an Oscar for his Russian doping documentary Icarus, The Dissident – which will have its UK premiere online at the Glasgow Film Festival on March 6 – includes never-before-seen footage and access to Khashoggi's fiancee Hatice Cengiz, Turkish police and prosecutors, and the young Saudi dissident Khashoggi was working with.
The film is on the long list for the best documentary Bafta.
Fogel said: "I hope people will watch and they're impacted, and they enjoy it as a piece of cinema.
"But there are real world implications here.
"And what we know about change is just like the Arab Spring, just like the Me Too movement, Black Lives Matters movement, any sort of reform – even Brexit, it starts at people wanting to take action.
"Whether the movement is for good, whether it's for bad, whether it's right, whether it's wrong.
"These are where all these things take hold, and, and they take hold on social media.
"And so I hope that as people see this film, they they demand of Boris Johnson changes; they demand to the UK Parliament
that we need to reassess these relationships; they demand of these huge global conglomerates and businesses that do business with Saudi Arabia, change in their human rights, efforts and their advocacy.
"And I believe that those changes can come because I think that's the power of cinema.
“I think that's the power of telling of what a film can illuminate for so many."
Fogel said he believes the story only garnered the international attention that it did because Khashoggi was working for a US newspaper.
He said: "Although Jamal was a Saudi journalist, and had spent most of his life working for Saudi Arabia, him being a Washington Post journalist changed the story and made this a global story and made it something that people cared about.
“I think, had he not been working for the Post and had the story not broken in the Washington Post, you wouldn't have seen the global media attention.
"It would have been 'Oh, a Saudi journalist'. You know, people wouldn't have cared.
"But in his death, he was no longer Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi journalist. He was Jamal Khashoggi, The Washington Post journalist.
From Malcom In The Middle to Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston has proved he is one of TV’S most versatile actors.
And the latest addition to the Los Angeles-born actor’s CV is Your Honour, a 10-part legal thriller, coming to Sky Atlantic and NOW TV.
Based on the Israeli show Kvodo, Cranston, 64, plays Michael Desiato, a respe cted New Orleans judge whose teenage son, Adam (Hunter Doohan), is involved in a hit-andrun. Impulsive decisions then lead to a high-stakes game of lies and deceit.
Tell us about what attracts you to a role
If I read a character who has all the answers, makes the right decisions, is kind to everyone, I’m bored. I don’t want to play that character. But someone who has flaws, but tries to be a better person, I think everyone can relate to that – and I think
that’s what’s necessary for an audience to invest their time and energy and sympathies toward a character, to root for them. And so that’s what I look for.
Michael Desiato is someone who goes against the law
Michael has to make an immediate decision on what is going to save his son’s life, and then has to suffer the repercussions from that decision.
How did you prepare for portraying a judge?
Well, the first thing I did was go to New Orleans where the story takes place, and go to the courthouse. I watched a bunch of different trials in various stages and observed the judges and how they handle themselves. Some are very “masters of their universe” kind of thing, and
they take control. Others like to be in the background.
What was the most challenging part of the role?
It was actually the running. When I was younger, I used to run marathons and I was so looking forward to being a runner again, but then I got injured. I had to have epidural shots in my spine two different times in order not to have sciatica, and it was troubling.
Is there a genre in the industry that scares you?
Musical theatre is something that I’m not comfortable with but as a performer, I don’t want to look at something and go, ‘No, no, I only do this’.
● Your Honour is released on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV on Tuesday, March 2