A new documentary, 'The Encampments' is shedding new light on the US college protests against the Gaza genocide.
What exactly happened during the student protests at Columbia University last year and similar universities in the United States and worldwide? What were they fighting for? Was it as truly antisemitic as the Democratic Party, mainstream media, and now the MAGA-led Trump administration say it was?
All of this is explained and shown in such astonishing vivid detail with the documentary The Encampments which had its world premiere at CPH:DOX on March 25, 2025, and is scheduled to be released on March 28 by Watermelon Pictures. After viewing it, there is no doubt in my mind that The Encampments is an essential documentary for the ages, an incredible work of historical documentation that masterfully connects the past and the present, the college protest students and the Palestinian people they were advocating for.
Through exclusive footage and intimate interviews, THE ENCAMPMENTS provides an unprecedented look at one of the most significant student movements in modern history. The film captures the passion, resilience, and challenges faced by students who risked everything to demand justice. THE ENCAMPMENTS examines why universities responded with mass arrests and force rather than engagement and dialogue, and it sheds light on the institutions’ efforts to suppress student activism. In doing so, it offers a deeper understanding of both the power and the costs of grassroots movements.
Directed and produced by Michael T. Workman and Kei Pritsker, The Encampments mainly follow three college students and one alumna (Mahmoud Khalil, Sueda Polat, Grant Miner, and Naye Idriss) who were some of the key figures during the Columbia University Gaza encampment. Throughout the documentary, we are shown the events leading up to the encampment, the university’s response to it, and the brutal NYPD takedown allowed by the university administration. You as the audience viewer will get a keen understanding of the logistics it takes to plan for such a protest as well as experiencing the jubilant and rousing comradery that comes with being part of one.
But we are also shown why the students were willing to risk their tuition and reputations with the knowledge that whatever consequences they would face were insignificant compared to the apartheid and genocide suffered by the Palestinian people. We are shown that the fight was an effort done with a multi-ethnic, interfaith body of students and community members that spanned all races & religions and the spark they ignited in students from other universities worldwide to also get involved.
And finally, we are shown that the protests held last year at the university mirrors that of the 1968 Columbia University protests, an effort led by Black students against the U.S. government’s involvement in the Vietnam War. All of this is expertly combined together with a keen filmmaker’s eye on editing, music, and composition to create a documentary that was clearly made with love, passion, and a burning desire to make a change.
It’s impossible for me to speak all of this from a purely objective standpoint. From someone who first learned about the plight of the Palestinian people in college (all thanks to my random stumbling into my college’s Muslim student association) and learning so much about the colonization, apartheid, and genocide that were and still continue to be funded by U.S. tax dollars, I realized how I was beholden to so many Zionist thoughts and belief systems that were built inside of me. This, alongside the study of my own Asian American history and that of other global majority histories, only show that all struggle is interconnected. We are not free until all of us are free.
And so when I personally witnessed the college encampments here in LA, the feeling of rage I felt for the students when they were assaulted by the Zionist counter-protestors and the LAPD all came flooding back while watching this documentary. While The Encampments largely focuses on Columbia University, we also get a good look at what went down in UCLA which is aided by the interview of Palestinian activist Maya Abdallah.
The most damning accusation that the mainstream media and both the Biden and current Trump administration puts on the encampments was that the protests were violently antisemitic in nature. Nothing could be further from the truth and the documentary puts into undeniable detail that many Jewish students were part of the movement, particularly in the documentary’s highlight of Grant Miner, a Jewish graduate student studying Hebrew Medieval Literature at Columbia.
The documentary makes the case that many of the accusations of antisemitism filed were students simply yelling for the liberation of Palestine, blocking a pathway to a college campus building, or the sight of the encampments making some students feel uncomfortable. But how can one even remotely compare the feeling of discomfort of a few students with the genocide taking place overseas ripping apart so many Palestinian families?
The timing of this documentary’s release could not have come at a more perfect and unfortunate time with the ICE kidnapping and detainment of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian Columbia grad student who was chosen to negotiate directly with the university. While it’s very easy for many to point the blame at the Trump administration for this, it is absolutely important to remember that the Biden administration condoned the student protests to be brutally taken down as well as the U.S. government’s non-stop financial and military support for the Israeli government.
By the end of The Encampments, the documentary does something miraculous and that is to instill hope. That despite the almost impossible challenges faced by these students and that of everyone around the world who fights for Palestinian liberation, you cannot help but feel inspired by the courage and bravery these students have taken to fight for what is right. They have made it possible for the first step to be taken to make this goal an actual possibility. This documentary is an indelible part of that first step with many more sure to come after.
“THE ENCAMPMENTS is a testament to the courage of young people to not only imagine a better world but to fight for it in the face of violence and repression. This film challenges the dominant media narrative by revealing the true spirit of the encampments—what it felt like to be there, the emotions that fueled the students, and what motivated their drastic action. THE ENCAMPMENTS is an exploration of what drives a generation to stand up and fight for change.” — Kei Pritsker and Michael T. Workman
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