Singer-songwriter and Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters has signed on as executive producer on filmmaker Rishi Pelham’s debut feature documentary, “Freedom Theatre.”
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Described as “an immersive and sensory character study,” the film follows resistance fighter turned artist Ahmed Tobasi into the creative heart of the Jenin refugee camp in Palestine, where he fights to keep his theater open amidst imminent destruction.
“I didn’t intentionally set out to make this film,” Pelham said. “I kept returning to Jenin, to the theater, to the camp, and over time the story insisted on being told. What drew me in was the tension between two worlds: the black-box rehearsal room, sealed and controllable, and the camp outside, alive, volatile, and impossible to contain. Slowly, these spaces began to bleed into one another.”
Pelham also co-composed the documentary’s original score, which features prominent Palestinian artists such as techno DJ and producer Sama’ Abdulhadi.
Shot over the course of five years, “Freedom Theatre” is currently in the final stages of post-production.
Suzanne Harb is producing the documentary in collaboration with Pelham for London-based Bathtub Films, behind the director’s award-winning 2019 drama “Hilda” that was executive produced by Tim Roth.
Also on board “Freedom Theatre” are executive partners Khaled Habayeb and Alaa Alasad of Amman-based Tabi360, whose credits include Zain Duraie’s acclaimed family drama “Sink,” which premiered last year in Toronto, and Ameer Fakher Eldin’s 2025 Berlin competition title “Yunan.”
In Waters, the project has gained a prominent supporter of Palestinian liberation. He is among the hundreds of artists who recently signed an open letter calling for the Venice Film Festival “to take concrete action in support of Palestine.”
The film team is planning a festival circuit rollout and will be attending the Venice fest for meetings with potential partners.