American Doctor: A Harrowing Film on Gaza's Collapsing Hospital System

The documentary film-maker Poh Si Teng has made a 93-minute film, American Doctor, which premiered at the Sundance film festival and is out now in US cinemas. The film follows three doctors from different cultural and religious backgrounds - Thaer Ahmad, a Palestinian-American emergency doctor; Mark Perlmutter, a Jewish orthopedic surgeon from North Carolina; and Feroze Sidhwa, a Zoroastrian trauma surgeon based in California - as they volunteer on the frontlines of Gaza's collapsing hospital system.

The doctors return to the US as advocates in the halls of Congress, which continues to send military aid to Israel. The film highlights the unique position of American doctors as witnesses whose professional standing makes their testimony difficult for politicians and even rightwing media to dismiss as propaganda.

Teng's journey to making the film began in the fall of 2024, a year into the military campaign in Gaza. She had spent years as a producer, documentary commissioning editor for Al Jazeera English and creative director at ABC/Disney but felt suffocated by the professional and political silence surrounding what she does not hesitate to call a genocide.

The path to making the film became clear when Teng saw Perlmutter being interviewed on television in late 2024. A reporter had asked him why he believed there was no ceasefire, expecting a rehearsed, diplomatic response. Instead, Perlmutter looked directly into the camera and said bluntly that there was no ceasefire because western politicians were entirely beholden to powerful lobby groups.

The film captures the unfathomable destruction in Gaza, the fear and grief of its people and the steely determination of medical professionals working at the front line of hospitals that are constantly overwhelmed. To understand the scale of what he and the other doctors witnessed, Sidhwa argues you must first dismantle the abstract language used by military spokespeople and politicians.

Sidhwa has volunteered in Gaza twice: first in March and April 2024, and again in March and April 2025. When he tried to return for a third time in November 2025, the Israeli authorities blocked his entry. He is now part of a legal petition to the Israeli high court of justice challenging the systematic blocking of healthcare workers.

The film elicits different reactions in different countries, Teng adds. "Here's a film that can maybe help tell people about what's going on and help people to look at themselves in the mirror. Next year, five years from now, 20 years from now, can we see ourselves? Can we accept what we have done or have not done? If, as individuals, we live in a democracy then we really need to be part of it and fight for the living."

American Doctor is out in US cinemas now and in the UK on 20 November. In Australia it is currently showing at the Melbourne international film festival.

## The Doctors Behind the Film

The film follows three doctors from different cultural and religious backgrounds - Thaer Ahmad, a Palestinian-American emergency doctor; Mark Perlmutter, a Jewish orthopedic surgeon from North Carolina; and Feroze Sidhwa, a Zoroastrian trauma surgeon based in California - as they volunteer on the frontlines of Gaza's collapsing hospital system.

## The Impact of the Film

The film has had a profound impact on audiences on the festival circuit. Teng continues: "There are war movies and American Doctor is nowhere near that. I don't think it's actually the graphic nature of it; I think it's the guilt. I've watched documentaries across the board, just so that I am aware and know what kind of art that is being made on conflicts and wars and genocide. American Doctor doesn't even come close. But I think the challenge here is people sometimes having to reckon with what they're part of and that does something to you."

Sidhwa agrees. "This idea of 'righteous' or 'clean' violence. People don't think of our bombs doing the same thing that Russian bombs do, which is very weird: they're both bombs. They work exactly the same way but they just don't think of it. I don't know why. But I think when they see it then it's the guilt of saying, 'I knew we were responsible for what was going on but I didn't realise this is what's going on.'"

## The Future of the Film

The film will continue to be shown in cinemas and on the festival circuit. Teng hopes that it will continue to spark conversations and debates about the impact of the US and Israeli military actions on the people of Gaza.