TORN: The Israel-Palestine Poster War on New York City Streets

TORN is a feature documentary that captures the emotional fallout of the now-iconic “KIDNAPPED” poster campaign - a grassroots effort to raise awareness about the 251 hostages taken by Hamas after the October 7 attacks. What began as a simple act of solidarity quickly became a flashpoint, igniting fierce confrontations between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian activists and turning New York City’s streets into a battleground of ideology, identity, and grief. Told through the voices of ten New Yorkers - including artists, activists, and families of hostages — TORN unpacks the motivations behind those putting up and tearing down the posters, exposing a complex proxy war fought in stickers, slogans, and torn paper - thousands of miles from Gaza. The film reveals how a distant war fractured daily life in one of the world’s most diverse cities, challenging the limits of empathy, freedom of speech, and communal solidarity in a time of hyper-polarization.