The Encampments

On a cold morning in April of 2024, a group of students set up camp on the lawn of Columbia University in New York. They founded the Gaza Solidarity Encampment to protest the war in Gaza, and to protest their own university’s investment in the U.S. and Israeli arms industry. An action that made waves around the world and quickly grew into the largest protest movement since the Vietnam War.

But the world is different today. ‘The Encampments’ is a film about power and resistance in the 21st century, where both have taken on new forms. At the same time, the role of universities as bastions of democracy, critical thinking and freedom of expression is under pressure. We are thrown into the high-voltage drama with full access to the hardcore of dedicated organizers. Even as the growing group of pro-Palestinian activists themselves face fierce resistance from the police, the media and their own fellow students. A reportage from the fluid frontline of an ideological conflict about right and wrong.