American Doctor

A documentary that reminds us why bearing witness matters.

By Valerie Cameron

American Doctor is one of those documentaries that reminds you why films like this need festivals like Sundance—and why they need audiences beyond them. Directed by Poh Si Teng, the film follows American physicians Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, Dr. Thaer Ahmad, and Dr. Mark Perlmutter as they travel to Gaza to provide medical care under extreme and dangerous conditions. I go into screenings trying to stay measured and professional, especially during a festival, but this film hit me hard and fast. There was an immediate emotional response—one that came not from manipulation or spectacle, but from witnessing the quiet courage, exhaustion, and moral clarity of these doctors as they navigate an impossible situation. American Doctor is an impressive and imperative story, told with restraint and humanity, and it’s a film that deserves to be seen, discussed, and wrestled with long after Sundance. As of its premiere, the film is still seeking wider distribution, and I truly hope it finds the broad audience this story demands.

One line from Dr. Mark Perlmutter stayed with me long after the screening: “If journalists don’t show the photos of the children, that’s journalistic malpractice.” Let that sync in. It’s a statement that cuts straight to the heart of the film’s urgency—about the cost of looking away.

 This film brings you face-to-face with the people behind the news—both the doctors and the patients—grounding a complex conflict in lived experience.

American Doctor doesn’t tell you what to think; it asks you to sit with discomfort, empathy, and moral responsibility. This isn’t a documentary you watch and forget—it lingers, challenging you long after the credits roll.

Grade A

CREDITS

Directed By Poh Si Teng

Produced By Poh Si Teng, Kirstine Barfod, Reem Haddad

Edited By Christopher White, Ema Ryan Yamazaki

Executive Producers Simon Kilmurry, Hamza Ali, Poh Si Teng, Rasha Mansouri, Hassan Elmasry, Rami Elghandour, Andreas Dalsgaard, Mehdi Hasan, Juan Pablo Raymond, Kiran Alvi

Co-Executive Producers Jismi Johari, Marina Mahathir

Co-Producers Mohammed Sawwaf, Kasper Lykke Schultz

Director Of Photography Ibrahim Al Otla, Chris Renteria

Cinematography Arthur Nazaryan, Poh Si Teng, Ramzy Haddad

Original Music Suad Bushnaq

Original Song Suvo Sur, Featuring Poh Si Teng

Production By Tiny Boxer Films In Association With Watermelon Pictures

About the Director:

POH SI TENG (DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER)

Poh Si Teng is the producer of the Oscar-nominated St. Louis Superman and Emmy Award–winning executive producer of Patrice: The Movie. She is a former creative executive for ABC/Disney, documentary commissioner for Al Jazeera, IDA grants director, and New York Times journalist. She is the founder of Tiny Boxer Films, which produces non-fiction feature docs, and docu- and unscripted-series for the US and global majority markets. American Doctor marks her debut as a feature documentary director

PARTICIPANT BIOS

DR. THAER AHMAD

Dr. Thaer Ahmad is a board-certified emergency medicine physician, global health expert, and humanitarian who has provided medical relief in some of the world’s most devastated conflict zones, including Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, and Kenya. He has conducted five medical missions to Gaza, most recently entering in early 2024. Dr. Ahmad has since been denied entry into Gaza by the Israeli authorities on four separate occasions because of his Palestinian heritage. He currently serves as an attending physician at Advocate Christ Medical Center and holds roles as the assistant program director for the Emergency Medicine Residency Program and the Global Health Director for the emergency department. Dr. Ahmad is also an assistant clinical professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and an adjunct assistant professor at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He is a board member of the Palestinian American Medical Association, a humanitarian NGO that works to build healthcare capacity. Dr. Ahmad played an essential role in helping to sustain and heal Gaza’s most vulnerable through this long and devastating siege, and has shown great courage in bearing witness.

DR. MARK PERLMUTTER

Dr. Mark Perlmutter is an orthopedic hand surgeon in rural North Carolina. He served as the past President of the American Academy of Neurological and Orthopedic Surgery, the International College of Surgeons and of the World Surgical Foundation. He has been on 40 overseas surgical medical mission trips to developing countries in four continents. He had volunteered on Ground Zero on 9/11, worked in New Orleans the day Hurricane Katrina struck land, and went to Port Prince Haiti within six hours of their earthquake. He volunteered in three hospitals in Gaza on two occasions in 2024 and 2025.

DR. FEROZE SIDHWA

Dr. Feroze Sidhwa is a general, trauma, and critical care surgeon in California. He has worked on humanitarian deployments in Gaza, Ukraine, the West Bank, Haiti, Zimbabwe, and Burkina Faso.