American Doctor
American Doctor – documentary film screening
Three doctors in Gaza are trying to change American politicians’ understanding of what is actually happening with US support.
American Doctor follows three American doctors who travel to Gaza to help treat people injured in Israel’s brutal attacks. The film shows the consequences and suffering caused by extreme warfare, in which airstrikes target civilians, schools and hospitals, without regard for who is hit.
The film follows the three doctors, often at very close range, in a besieged hospital in Gaza and then in Washington and the US Congress. There, they try to influence US policy and get politicians and the public to open their eyes to the catastrophe unfolding in Gaza.
The three come from very different family backgrounds. Dr. Mark Perlmutter is Jewish, Dr. Thaer Ahmad is Palestinian-American, and Dr. Feroze Sidhwa is Pakistani-American and a follower of Zoroastrianism, a very ancient religion that originated in Persia.
Journalist and filmmaker Poh Si Teng has followed the doctors at work in the operating room, as well as through interview after interview with the media. Because of Israel’s blockade of medical supplies, informing the outside world about what is happening in Gaza has become a very important part of healthcare workers’ work.
The film shows the unimaginable suffering that the international community has allowed Israel to inflict on the people of Gaza, while also offering a better understanding of how and why this has been able to happen.
American Doctor is not only a harrowing look at the work in a besieged hospital in Gaza. It is also a revealing study of who gets listened to, whose stories are passed on, and who is recognised as human, focusing on the US, which holds an important key to stopping the genocide.
INTRODUCTION TO THE FILM: More information to come. Stay tuned.
This screening is part of the Dokumentarkino på Vega programme section. Every Wednesday, we screen current documentary films in collaboration with Oslo Dokumentarkino and Human. Int. dokumentarfilmfestival.
Venue: Vega Scene Address: Hausmanns gate 28, 0182 Oslo
