Claim: ‘Behind Closed Doors’, a documentary made by filmmakers Michael Oswald and Murtaza Mehdi about Pakistan’s Sharif family, is set to be released on streaming services Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
Fact: The director of ‘Behind Closed Doors’, Michael Oswald, confirmed to Soch Fact Check that no deal has been signed with either Netflix or Amazon Prime Video. The documentary does not exclusively focus on the Sharif family either but on how Western nations “facilitate corruption and money laundering in developing countries”, as well as a number of “political dynasties of the developing world who have been revealed in offshore leaks to have assets beyond their known sources of income”.
On 17 October 2022, Twitter account @OSINT_Insider posted a video clip with the following caption:
“Netflix is going to release an explosive film ‘Behind Close Doors’ about mega corruption scandals in Pakistan. Some ‘big names’ are featured. Download your favourite Netflix shows already. I won’t be surprised if they ban Netflix in Pakistan for airing it.”
The tweet gained a lot of traction and was viewed by more than 148,000 users. It also appeared on other social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
Fact or Fiction?
Michael Oswald, the director of ‘Behind Closed Doors’, told Soch Fact Check that no deal has been signed with either Netflix or Amazon Prime Video. “We have not announced the date and platform of release. We are in discussion with various parties regarding the release, we are not in a position to confirm or deny when or where the release will occur at this time,” he said.
Furthermore, ‘Behind Closed Doors’ — which Oswald stated “is complete and ready for release” — does not exclusively focus on the Sharif family either but on how Western nations, including the United Kingdom, “facilitate corruption and money laundering in developing countries”, as well as a number of “political dynasties of the developing world who have been revealed in offshore leaks to have assets beyond their known sources of income”, he added.
“The film further highlights the efforts of Imran Khan’s government to engage with Western nations and institutions to repatriate and reveal assets of Pakistani origin,” Oswald told Soch Fact Check.
According to production company Independent POV’s website, ‘Behind Closed Doors’ has contributions from former prime minister Imran Khan, TV anchor Arshad Sharif, journalist and Africa Uncensored CEO John-Allan Namu, Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) Senior Investigator Tom Stocks, Transparency International UK Advocacy Director Rachel Davies Teka, former information minister Fawad Chaudhry, Azerbaijani journalist Emin Huseynov, PTI Core Committee Member Mirza Shahzad Akbar, and former Dunya News anchorperson Irfan Hashmi.
Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are yet to respond to Soch Fact Check’s request for comment.
Michael Oswald — who is listed as a writer, director, and producer on Internet Movie Database (IMDb) — has nine films and documentaries to his crest, including ‘97% Owned’, ‘Princes of the Yen’, ‘The Spider’s Web: Britain’s Second Empire’, and ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much’. His work is either self-funded or crowdfunded through platforms such as Patreon and GoFundMe.
The trailer for ‘Behind Closed Doors’ was released on YouTube on 17 October 2022.
Virality
Soch Fact Check conducted a CrowdTangle analysis for the three-day period from 16 October 2022 to 19 October using the following search terms:
- “behind closed doors netflix”
- “behind closed doors amazon”
- “بند دروازوں کے پیچھے نیٹ فلکس”
- “دستاویزی فلم نیٹ فلکس”
The first search term turned up over 150 Facebook posts and 11 Instagram posts, which gained 9,032 and 7,705 interactions, respectively. The second search term yielded 1,536 interactions across 55 Facebook posts and 2,559 interactions across five Instagram posts; the latter are all fact-checks.
The third and fourth search terms turned up 32 and 45 Facebook posts, which gained 126 and 1,983 interactions, respectively. On Instagram, both turned up one post with 48 interactions.
Conclusion: No deal has been signed with Netflix or Amazon Prime Video to release ‘Behind Closed Doors’ on either platform, the documentary’s director, Michael Oswald, told Soch Fact Check. Moreover, the documentary does not exclusively focus on the Sharif family but on how Western nations “facilitate corruption and money laundering in developing countries”, as well as a number of “political dynasties of the developing world who have been revealed in offshore leaks to have assets beyond their known sources of income”.