When Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist Poh Si Teng heard the news of her colleague Samer Abu Daqqa being killed by an Israeli drone strike while on assignment back in December 2023, something in her broke. And then of course I was living in New York, being in all these circles because I worked in all these places — pin drop silence from journalists, from people I respected,” Teng says. But as somebody from outside the Palestinian community, she had no idea where to start.
Nearly a year later, the ideas for “American Doctor” began flowing when she came across an emotional video of Jewish doctor Mark Perlmutter talking about politicians not working toward a ceasefire because of their ties to lobby groups. After meeting Perlmutter and two other U.S. doctors — Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, a Zoroastrian surgeon, and Dr.
Thaer Ahmad, who is Palestinian American — the genesis for her directorial debut “American Doctor” was born. Shot on the ground in Gaza, the searing documentary cuts between these three doctors working to save wounded children at a hospital while speaking out in the U.S. about the atrocities and bombings they witness. Maybe it’s too inside baseball,'” Teng recalls, adding that she decided not to include Palestine or Gaza in the title because it would turn people away.
In the footage, Teng and Perlmutter get into a tense debate about the ethics. And I felt really guilty,” Teng says, who ultimately decides to include the brutal image of children in the film. You show too little, it’s not real.
In terms of finding out what that could be, I am so glad that Mark yelled at me and set the tone at the very beginning of our production.” Hamza Ali, co-founder of Watermelon Pictures and executive producer on “American Doctor,” recalls watching that scene for the first time over a Zoom call when Teng was looking for financing. She quips about her credit as an additional cinematographer: “That’s when you know a filmmaker is also broke when you see her credits everywhere!” Another pivotal moment in the film’s journey was its Sundance premiere earlier this year. The conversations that the screening started showed Teng that people are becoming more perceptive to watching stories from Palestine.
Watermelon Pictures, the Palestinian-owned distribution company that released “The Encampments” and “From Ground Zero,” boarded “American Doctor” in April as U.S. distributor. While Teng ended up with other distribution offers in the months following Sundance, working with Watermelon Pictures was a “no brainer.” “You have to remember who was there when nobody wanted to come near the film,” she says. When watching the film at Sundance, Ali admits that he was “surprised” by the comedic relief and the community Teng captures between fellow doctors and patients: “It’s needed.
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