Torn

TORN plunges into the battle that erupted on New York City’s streets in the winter of 2023, after October 7, when the grassroots “KIDNAPPED” poster campaign-created to raise awareness about the 251 hostages taken by Hamas-became a lightning rod for rage and resistance. Through the voices of artists, activists, and hostage families, the film unravels how these posters turned subway walls and sidewalks into battlegrounds of ideology and emotion, igniting clashes between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian New Yorkers. By exposing the motivations of those putting up and tearing down the posters, TORN reveals the complexities of this intense ‘paper arm’ proxy war, fought thousands of miles from the actual conflict-forcing a reckoning with identity, free speech, and empathy in an age of polarization.