TIFF Lightbox, Cinema 1

Film Details: 105 minutes | Directed by Maiken Baird | Documentary | 2026 | USA

Following the screening join us for a panel on Edward Said’s legacy — Saturday, October 3, 2026, 5:15 PM

Synopsis: Told in Palestinian-American scholar and intellectual Edward Said's own voice, this sweeping archival documentary traces the evolution of his political awakening, personal struggles, and reckoning with a life of exile. It is the first documentary granted full access by the Said family and estate, featuring never-before-seen material from the family archive, the Said archive at Columbia University, decades of unseen home movies, rare television appearances, documentaries, and lectures. Spanning seven decades — from Said's childhood in Jerusalem in 1935 to his death in 2003 in New York City — the film follows a man celebrated as a prophet and vilified as a terrorist, America's most outspoken critic of the West and Palestine's fiercest advocate, inviting audiences to question who has the right to tell their own story. 

Award: CPH:DOX 2025 — Al-Jazeera Co-Production Award