TORN: The Israel - Palestine Poster War on
New York City Streets
Now in Oscar® For Your Consideration: Best Documentary Feature
After Hamas 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
“Remarkable” – Commentary Magazine
”Shows a clear interest in people over politics” – Nonfics
Academy Conversations: TORN | Official Oscars Channel
TORN on MSNBC’s Morning Joe
CNN x One World with Zain Asher & Bianna Golodryga
TORN on NEWSNATION’s Morning In America
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.