TORN: The Israel-Palestine Poster War on NYC Streets
After Hamas’s October 7 attacks and Israel's war in Gaza, New York erupts into a poster war over the kidnapped. TORN captures the symbolic battle for public space - where strangers rip, defend, and rage in the streets, and empathy is the first thing to go.
“A film that presents questions - not answers” – The Hollywood Reporter
“Timely, powerful, and thought-provoking documentary” – FORBES
“Gripping and powerful chronicle” – Haaretz
“Provocative” – Deadline
“Remarkable” – Commentary Magazine
”Shows a clear interest in people over politics” – Christopher Campbell, Nonfics
After Hamas kidnapped 251 people from Israel on October 7, and as Israel’s war in Gaza unfolded, a conflict thousands of miles away erupted on New York’s walls.
TORN captures the emotional fallout of the now-iconic “KIDNAPPED” poster campaign - a grassroots act of solidarity that quickly became a flashpoint, igniting fierce confrontations between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian New Yorkers.
Through the voices of artists, activists, and hostage families, the film unpacks the motivations behind those putting up and tearing down the posters, exposing a complex proxy war fought in stickers, slogans, and torn paper.
By revealing how a distant war fractured daily life in one of the world’s most diverse cities, TORN forces a reckoning with identity, free speech, and empathy in an age of polarization.
TORN is an independent feature documentary, filmed and produced in New York City.
Distributed internationally by PBS distribution.
TORN on MSNBC’s Morning Joe
TORN on NEWSNATION’s Morning In America
