Directed by Nim Shapira
Documentary Feature | USA | 2024 | 75 min | English

PHILADELPHIA PREMIERE
TORN delves into the controversy surrounding the ‘KIDNAPPED’ 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.

Preceded by ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE
Directed by Nate Berman
Documentary Short | USA | 2024 | 5 min | English

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE profiles the Cinderella story of Blake Peters, the lone Jewish player on the 2023 Princeton University basketball team who led them to the 2023 NCAA Sweet 16 and then struggled to navigate campus antisemitism after the events of Oct 7 only seven months later.

SPECIAL GUESTS:

• Rabbi Abe Friedman (Moderator)
• Dede Bandaid and Nitzan Mintz (Street Artists (Interviewees)
• Nim Shapira (Director of TORN)
• Aaron Terr (FIRE, Public Advocacy Director (Interviewee)
• Alana Zeitchik (Hostage Family Member (Interviewee)

Director’s Bio

Nim Shapira is an award-winning filmmaker, creative director, and multidisciplinary artist based in Brooklyn. His work has been featured at prestigious festivals such as TED, Tribeca Film Festival, Cannes’ Marché du Film, SIGGRAPH, and Slamdance. Nim is a graduate of La Biennale di Venezia’s College Cinema and a former research fellow at MIT’s Open Documentary Lab. He has led award-winning campaigns for brands like Coca-Cola and Nike.

Nate Berman is a director, cinematographer, and editor with a passion for both narrative and documentary short films. His love for filmmaking began at the age of 16 when he took a TV and Video Production class at Hopewell Valley Central High School in New Jersey. Just a year later, Nate directed and produced Anything Is Possible (2024), a multi-award-winning short documentary submitted as his final project for the class. Building on his journey, Nate went on to direct and shoot several other short films, including GUM (2024) and Hidden Roots (2024), further sharpening his craft and storytelling abilities.

Co-sponsored by