The Encampments - Interview with Director Michael Workman

The Encampments - Interview with Director Michael Workman, Moderated by Bassam Haddad When a group of students at Columbia University in New York launch a movement protesting the war in Gaza, they spark a nationwide uprising in solidarity with the people of Gaza. Encampments spring up at hundreds of campuses as students object to their own university’s investment in the US and Israeli arms industry. Featuring detained student activist Mahmoud Khalil, The Encampments takes viewers inside America’s student uprising with incredible intimacy and urgency. Professors, whistleblowers, and student activists shed light on a moment that captivated the nation’s attention and continues to make headlines today. Michael T Workman is a filmmaker whose documentaries have screened at festivals around the world including CPH:DOX, Sheffield Doc/Fest, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, IFFBoston, Sidewalk Film Festival and many more. His latest film The Encampments (2025) won the Human Rights Award Special Mention at CPH:DOX. His film Meantime (2022) won the Best Short Film Award at Telluride Mountainfilm, Best Short Documentary Award at BendFilm Festival and the Vimeo Staff Pick Award at Palm Springs ShortFest. His documentary From Parts Unknown (2018) won the Grand Jury Prize at the Northwest Filmmakers’ Festival. Bassam Haddad is Founding Director of the Middle East and Islamic Studies Program and Associate Professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. He is the author of Business Networks in Syria: The Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience (Stanford University Press, 2011) and co-editor of A Critical Political Economy of the Middle East (Stanford University Press, 2021). Bassam is Co-Founder/Editor of Jadaliyya Ezine and Executive Director of the Arab Studies Institute. He serves as Founding Editor of the Arab Studies Journal and the Knowledge Production Project. He is co-producer/director of the award-winning documentary film, About Baghdad, and director of the acclaimed series Arabs and Terrorism. Bassam is Executive Producer of StatusPodcast Channel and Director of the Middle East Studies Pedagogy Initiative (MESPI). He received MESA's Jere L. Bacharach Service Award in 2017 for his service to the profession. Currently, Bassam is working on his second Syria book titled Understanding The Syrian Tragedy: Regime, Opposition, Outsiders (forthcoming, Stanford University Press). Jadaliyya Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@Jadaliyya?sub_confirmation=1 http://instagram.com/jadaliyya http://twitter.com/jadaliyya http://jadaliyya.com #Jadaliyya