Navigating power and outreach in transnational documentary: Producing Praying for Armageddon

This article presents a genre-conscious critique of the power dynamics shaping political documentary production for global audiences. Centring on Praying for Armageddon (2023) – a provocative documentary addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the rise of faith-based politics in the United States – I examine its production through participatory ethnographic research and in-depth dialogue with its creators. Employing Bourdieu’s concept of ‘field’, the analysis reveals how both national institutions in Norway and transnational entities shaped the film’s development. The complications, however, are so profoundly interconnected and iterative that the putative dichotomy between national and international frameworks is increasingly destabilized. Findings suggest that, despite the growing presence of activist paradigms, international broadcasters and emerging gatekeepers continue to pressure filmmakers into adopting compliant strategies that dilute progressive narratives. Yet, in this case, the multipolar nature of global media has enabled a degree of autonomy, resisting full absorption and neutralization within the ‘heteronomous’ transnational field.