This story is part of True/False Conversations, a series of in-depth interviews with the filmmakers of this year’s True/False Film Fest. Find the full series here.
The film American Doctor follows three doctors — one Palestinian, one Jewish and one Zoroastrian — as they work to save lives in Gaza. The film does not shy away from the horrors of war and asks Americans to consider the role they and their government are playing in the ongoing devastation and bloodshed.
KBIA’s Rebecca Smith spoke with director Poh Si Teng and subject Dr. Feroze Sidwha about how the film came together and some of the challenges of filming in an active warzone. Here's an excerpt from their conversation:
Rebecca Smith: Well, so the very first question I have for you guys today is actually just, how did this happen? How did you guys come together? You know, how did you decide on this film and end up finding the subjects of the film?
Teng: One of the things that struck me as I was trying to find the right film to make, to tell the story and bring Gaza and Palestine back home to the United States, was just viewers — American audience and viewers' fascination with medical dramas.
There's something about hospitals, ERs and medical facilities, where I think audiences — at some point, all of us will find ourselves in, in our most vulnerable state. So, it just felt like the right way to tell the story about what's going on in Gaza and Palestine.
"We finished everything in a year with the promise to Ibrahim and Mohammed, the co-producer in Gaza, that we would finish it. We would bring it back to America as soon as we could. And they want it. They want it out. So, we are trying our best to keep our promise to them."Poh Si Teng
Smith: I guess, you know, one thing I wanted to talk a little bit about was how this was shot. Who shot footage where? How did that end up in your hands, Poh, and how did that get put together?
Teng: Maybe Feroze, you could share a little bit about about how Ibrahim filmed you, because, you know, I would give him a list every day. And with the team, we would talk through some of the scenes. And then Ibrahim was essentially left with Feroze and falling Feroze around.
Feroze Sidhwa: Yeah, Ibrahim is the sweetest guy. And, I don't have the ability to judge his technical expertise in cinematography, but he — but everybody seems to say that it's just absolutely shocking the camera work that he does. And all of this is happening while Ibrahim is quite literally starving. He has no food. He has — what is it? Five? Five kids?
Teng: Yeah, five children.
Sidhwa: You know, I kept trying to give him food. He would just put it in his pocket. I know he was taking it home and giving it home and giving it to his kids. He was really quite a remarkable person.
I don't know if I've told you this before, Poh, but Ibrahim and Mohammed and — what was the translator's name? Do you remember her name?
Teng: Gada. Gada.
Sidhwa: Gada. They would stand on this balcony because they — that was where they could get a signal so that they could use their esim and upload the data. And they would stand there for hours and hours and hours just waiting for this data to upload, because you could just barely get to the Israeli cell tower from there. That's the balcony that was bombed at Nasser Medical Complex, where, you know, the 22 journalists, a medical student that I knew, doctors, nurses were all killed. So, you know, these people, the risks that they took to do the work that they did are really incredible. And, I just thought that was very impressive.
Teng: Yeah. And hence, Becky, there was this urgency to sort of finish the film within a year, to put it out as soon as we could. Because — you might know — an average documentary takes about five years at least to make. We finished everything in a year with the promise to Ibrahim and Mohammed, the co-producer in Gaza, that we would finish it. We would bring it back to America as soon as we could. And they want it. They want it out. So, we are trying our best to keep our promise to them.
