Poh Si Teng Talks ‘American Doctor’ and “Gaza Genocide” at CPH:DOX
Poh Si Teng and her documentary American Doctor, her feature directorial debut about doctors working amid the war in Gaza, which world premiered at Sundance, were in focus Tuesday morning at the industry conference of the 23rd edition of the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival (CPH:DOX). She shared the arduous journey behind the film during a session entitled “A Morning With Poh Si Teng,” hosted by veteran documentary programmer Thom Powers of TUFF and Pure Nonfiction. Why did the journalist-turned-filmmaker concentrate on producing docs (Patrice: The Movie) for the longest time? “I just didn’t feel the field needed another director for a long time,” instead focusing on “helping other directors to push and achieve their vision,” she said. She added that her skills were best suited for that work. Discussing her growing up in Malaysia and then moving to the U.S. to work as a journalist, as well as the high and low points of her career, she shared: “Low points define who you will be.” Throughout her career, which also took her to India, she saw a whole spectrum of human …
