American Doctor

• Director: Poh Si Teng

Grade: B+

For the two years following October of 2023, Israel’s genocide in Gaza has claimed the lives of more than 1,700 healthcare workers (a number that’s surely ballooned in the intervening months). This stat comes as a post-script to American Doctor, the feature debut of documentary director Poh Si Teng, which covers a select number of doctors as they fight the uphill battle of saving as many Gazans’ lives as possible. But rather than an on-the-ground accounting of the everyday struggles of the medical professionals tasked with helping, the film also shows their advocacy for the American government and media to accurately portray the realities they face.