Folkestone Documentary Festival 2026: American Doctor

Up close with three American doctors volunteering in Gaza's overwhelmed hospitals as the humanitarian catastrophe worsens and medical staff themselves become targets. In the face of intense pressure to stay neutral and silent, doctors become political and media voices, reporting on the carnage they have been exposed to.

Director: Poh Si Teng / 18 / 93 mins / USA, Palestine, Malaysia, Qatar, Denmark

AMERICAN DOCTOR will be shown with the UK premiere of the documentary short:

HANDS, TREES, HEADS, SCARS
Directors: Alberto Gottardo and Francesca Sironi / 15 / 14 mins / Ukraine, Italy

At a massage therapy session for amputated Ukrainian soldiers in the largest rehabilitation centre in Lviv, Sergei and his fellow soldiers have their scars carefully looked after. But their scars aren’t just physical, as we discover in this intimate portrait of the relationship between patient and therapist in wartime.