USA / 2024 / 80 min / English / Documentary
“Torn” delves into the controversy surrounding the ‘KIDNAPPED FROM ISRAEL’ poster campaign, a grassroots effort to raise awareness about the 240 hostages taken by Hamas. These posters quickly became polarizing symbols, sparking intense clashes between pro-Israel and pro-Palestine activists and turning New York City’s streets into battlegrounds of ideology and emotion. The film explores the motivations behind activists putting up and tearing down the posters, unraveling the complexities of this intense ‘paper arm’ proxy war, fought thousands of miles from the actual conflict.
What gripped me most about this film is the inability of some on each side to see the tragedy isn’t exclusive to either. The obvious villain being Hamas. The filmmakers do a good job of presenting both Israeli and Palestinian perspectives.
DIRECTOR: Nim Shapira is an award-winning filmmaker. His innovative works were featured at TED 2023, Tribeca Film Festival, SIGGRAPH, Slamdance, Cannes’ Marche Du Film and more.
He was a 2021/2022 research fellow at the MIT Open Documentary Lab, a 2020 alumni of NEWINC (the first museum-led incubator by NEWMUSEUM) and a graduate of La Biennale Di Venezia’s College Cinema for VR.
Director & Producer: Nim Shapira / Writers: Nim Shapira, Shay Mizrahy / Cinematographer: Eyal Bau-Cohen/ Executive Producer: Nim Shapira, Elad Schanin, Yarin Cerf / Featuring (alphabetical order): Liam Zeitchik, Alana Zeitchik, Dede Bandaid, Nitzan Mintz, Nina Mogilnik, Rabbi Yehuda Sarna, Julia Simon, Elisha Fine, Chen Levy, Aaron Terr.
Contact: nimshap@yahoo.com
