Directed by Poh Si Teng

Across late 2024 and early 2025, three doctors from the United States – Jewish orthopaedic surgeon Mark Perlmutter, Zoroastrian trauma surgeon Feroze Sidhwa and Palestinian emergency doctor Thaer Ahmad – worked in hospitals in the Gaza Strip trying to save some of the many lives being destroyed by the US-backed Israeli Defence Forces. Back home in North America, they attempt to reconcile these experiences with their day-to-day lives, as they also strive to raise awareness in the face of a world that would much prefer to look away.

The feature-length directorial debut of journalist and producer Poh Si Teng, American Doctor provides an unflinching exposé of the consequences of war as experienced by physicians: the suffering they encountered; the personal danger; the physical and emotional toll. In this challenging but compelling and essential documentary, the three men’s vastly different personalities bring into sharp focus the inequalities of privilege even among professional equals, reinforcing the urgency of their shared call for a more just world.

“First and foremost a humanitarian story … What makes American Doctor so powerful is the way it reveals the shared humanity of physicians and patients in the face of death.” – The Hollywood Reporter