Poh Si Teng and her documentary American Doctor, her feature directorial debut about doctors working amid the war in Gaza, which world premiered at Sundance, were in focus Tuesday morning at the industry conference of the 23rd edition of the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival (CPH:DOX).
She shared the arduous journey behind the film during a session entitled “A Morning With Poh Si Teng,” hosted by veteran documentary programmer Thom Powers of TUFF and Pure Nonfiction.
Why did the journalist-turned-filmmaker concentrate on producing docs (Patrice: The Movie) for the longest time? “I just didn’t feel the field needed another director for a long time,” instead focusing on “helping other directors to push and achieve their vision,” she said. She added that her skills were best suited for that work.
Discussing her growing up in Malaysia and then moving to the U.S. to work as a journalist, as well as the high and low points of her career, she shared: “Low points define who you will be.” Throughout her career, which also took her to India, she saw a whole spectrum of human behavior. “The most cruel things that could have happened to human beings, but also the best in humanity, have shaped me very much as a filmmaker,” she offered.
Asked about her journey to taking on the war in Gaza from a humanitarian perspective in American Doctor, the filmmaker said: “A year into the genocide, I didn’t have any more words. I was very angry. And then came despair. I didn’t know what to do with those emotions.” So she “needed to find something else,” leading her to quit her job and empty her bank account of around $150,000.
“That’s it. I have no more money,” Teng shared, before addressing her young daughter who sat in the front row: “This is all the money I saved for you, my child. Maybe one day you will understand why.”
Teng found Dr. Mark Perlmutter (“an incredible storyteller”) and his colleagues Dr. Thaer Ahmad and Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, providing emergency care in Gaza, inspiring. “I thought if I could learn something from them, then maybe people watching would be able to lear something too,” she emphasized.
Teng also shared on Tuesday that the team on the film accepted lower compensation to get the project done. Production began in December 2024, ending a year later.
How did she deal with the violence against journalists in the region? “They shoot people with cameras there,” she said. “So it is such a big ask to say, can you film here with these doctors? We will never forget their sacrifice.” The two local cinematographers, who have five kids each, were away from their families and dedicated to the film, Teng said in lauding their passion and focus. And she summarized their wishes for her this way: “Please bring the story back to America.”
Teng told the CPH:Conference audience that at some point, she wondered how she could finish the film without more money coming in. “I was just crushed,” she recalled. “But then a friend of mine from Malaysia said: ‘I don’t know how it is in the United States, but come back home. We’re not divided on the genocide.’” She ended up raising almost $200,000 in cash donations, which “gave us the wind in our sails that we so badly needed.” Teng then returned to the U.S., sharing: “By that time, society in the U.S. had shifted. But [during] the first half of 2025, all the doors were shut.”
Teng on Tuesday also discussed her goal of creating a lasting record with American Doctor and fears of sabotage. “There are 100-plus doctors who have gone into Gaza, international doctors, and nobody cares,” she said in describing the sentiment in the medical community on the ground. “We wrote a letter to President Trump, and nobody cares. And I thought to myself, we will have a record of who stood their ground when it mattered so much, when it was so hard. I wanted to make that [record]. … Even if nobody cares, we will make it for us and for our own children.”
She added: “And then there was also the very real fear of sabotage. That’s why I didn’t tell you anything. Thom, for so long. I didn’t tell anybody anything. It was almost August, September when we started talking a little bit. We wanted to make sure that the train had left the station, and there was no stopping it anymore.”
U.S. production and distribution company Watermelon Pictures came on board of American Doctor, with Teng lauding the firm for its support of the film and for being shortlisted for three Oscars early in its life.
How did she pick the title of the doc and decide to use “American” in it? Said Teng: “I just thought there is too much blood on our hands.”
The director also highlighted her wishes for American Doctor and its impact. “The hope for this film is to let people see it. If they see it, they would not be okay with this. Noone would be okay with it.”
Mentioning the U.S. midterm elections, Teng concluded: “Every country that has an election this year, this is your chance to say something. You are not for the killing of children and innocent people, and you will tell them with your vote.”
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