Documentary magazine is pleased to debut the official trailer for Far From Maine, the latest feature documentary by Israeli filmmaker and journalist Roy Cohen. The film will world-premiere in the Harbour strand of the upcoming International Film Festival Rotterdam (January 29-February 8).
Addressed as an intimate cinematic letter, Far From Maine sees Cohen confronting the long shadow of violence, memory and loss following the killing of his Palestinian friend and peace activist Aseel Asleh by Israeli police during his youth. Speaking directly to Asleh, Cohen reflects on their friendship, the ideals they once shared, and the profound moral rupture that has shaped his life and country ever since.
Rather than positioning itself as an objective overview of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the film unfolds as a personal reckoning. Drawing on Aslih’s own writings and Cohen’s lived experience, Far From Maine explores what remains of dialogue, hope and ethical responsibility in a society increasingly defined by fear, repression and erasure. The title refers to the Seeds of Peace camp in Maine, where Israeli and Palestinian teenagers—including Cohen and Asleh—once met in a rare space of encounter and possibility.
Shot across Israel and Palestine, the documentary weaves contemporary footage with archival material and testimonies, examining how private grief is inseparable from broader political structures. Cohen’s voiceover anchors the film as he navigates his own identity as an Arab-Jewish, queer filmmaker and parent, questioning whether Israel can still be a moral home for his family.
“I wanted something intimate, personal. This isn’t an objective documentary about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It’s about my relationship to this land, to violence, to a dear friend who was killed by my country’s police,” Cohen notes. “I’ve been talking to Aseel in my head every day for 25 years. His murder has haunted my entire life as did the state’s refusal to try his killers, who were policemen who were sent to silence a protest.”
“Maine was this idyllic space where peace felt possible, where we were just teenagers becoming friends, geographically and psychologically far from the conflict. The film is about the impossible distance between that hopeful place and the brutal reality we live in.”
“What the film explores is what happened to that possibility, why many of the friendships we built couldn’t survive the political reality of the occupation, resistance and, now, genocide,” the helmer concludes.
Produced by Temps Noir (France), The Piranesi Experience (Italy), Campfilm (Hungary), AKKA Films (Switzerland), UpNorth Film (Norway) and Dune Productions (Denmark), Far From Maine is a six-country European co-production backed by Creative Europe MEDIA, the Italian Ministry of Culture, Normandie Images, Jewish Story Partners, the Danish Film Institute, DR, RTS, Cineforom and the Fritt Ord Foundation, among others. The project has previously been showcased at CPH:FORUM and Film Independent’s Fast Track, and received the Best International Documentary in Development award at the Thessaloniki Film Festival.
