Mohammed bin Salman has been industriously rebranding the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over the last decade, in an attempt to refashion global perceptions of the Kingdom into a tourist hotspot in the gulf. This ‘culture washing’ has included recruiting artists, comedians and musicians from around the world to work with the regime.
The Australian director Philip Noyce signed up to direct a film funded by the Saudi government about the kingdom’s drug police. Last year, Saudi Arabia executed at least 356 people, including 243 for drug offences.
The Guardian reported this story, and quoted Reprieve’s Head of MENA death penalty projects, Jeed Basyouni:
“The purpose of culture-washing is to legitimise the human rights abuses carried out by the Saudi regime, using the arts, comedy and film to portray a tolerant government when in reality, anyone who offends the men in power risks winding up dead.”
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