The premiere of American Doctor took place at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, on January 23. The event was attended by Kirstine Barfod, Mark Perlmutter, Thaer Ahmad, Poh Si Teng, Feroze Sidhwa, and Reem Haddad. Both Perlmutter and Ahmad are physicians featured in the documentary, while Teng serves as the director.
They participated in an interview with NPR’s Morning Edition to discuss their work treating wounded Palestinians in Gaza. The film offers a poignant look at Gaza’s severely impacted healthcare system amid conflict. It follows three American surgeons who undertake medical missions to assist the Palestinian territory, detailing their experiences treating injured civilians.
The documentary also highlights the struggles of Palestinian doctors working under challenging conditions with hospital facilities that often come under attack. The narrative extends beyond Gaza, capturing the doctors’ lives in the U.S. and their efforts to share their experiences with a broader audience.
“At the very top,” Mark Perlmutter, an orthopedic surgeon, insists on showing a photograph that includes deceased Palestinian children after a discussion with Teng about the ethical presentation of such images. This sets a critical tone for the film, emphasizing the delicate balance between portraying reality and respecting dignity.
Teng emphasized in the interview the challenge of presenting such disturbing images. Showing too much can seem gratuitous, while too little fails to capture reality.
Thaer Ahmad, a Palestinian-American emergency physician featured in the documentary, talked about the difficulties faced at Gaza’s hospitals, where they frequently confront mass casualty events due to limited resources.
Ahmad explained that dozens of patients are often treated simultaneously without adequate space and insufficient medical supplies amid a siege. Mark Perlmutter expressed how desperate conditions were concerning the scarcity of anesthesia during operations.
Medical supplies entering Gaza face restrictions under Israeli policies, blocking potential military-use items, including essential medical equipment like incubators and antibiotics as noted by human rights organizations.
While Palestinian cinematographers captured scenes from inside Gaza, Teng documented the narratives of doctors outside, returning to the U.S. The film illustrates the doctors’ engagement with members of Congress and the public to communicate the harsh realities they observed.
Poh Si Teng remarked about the influence of U.S. military support to Israel and its potential to call for a halt to the ongoing crisis.
American Doctor is now available in select theaters in the United States. The digital version of the documentary was produced by Majd Al-Waheidi.