GW Professors’ Documentary Selected for 2026 Sundance Film Festival

Two GW faculty members will have their documentary screened at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.

Jason Osder and William Youmans, both associate professors of media and public affairs, directed the documentary "Who Killed Alex Odeh?", which was selected for the U.S. Documentary Competition.

"It's huge," Osder said. "Sundance really stands alone in the independent documentary landscape. Starting at Sundance puts your film into the conversation about what the important films of the year will be."

Osder's previous documentary, "Let the Fire Burn," examined a 1985 confrontation between the group MOVE and the Philadelphia Police Department. His new film shifts to a different historical case: the unsolved 1985 killing of Alex Odeh, a regional director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

Osder said the idea for the film emerged after Youmans attended a screening of "Let the Fire Burn." The two began talking about how different communities carry different historical narratives, and how certain events are widely known in some circles but unfamiliar in others.

"There was a moment of recognition," Osder recalled. "We were two Americans working at the same university, roughly the same age, and we realized we didn't fully share the same history. Depending on where you grow up and who you are, you carry different stories with you. That realization was the beginning of the project."

The collaboration between the two filmmakers remained central as the project developed over the course of a decade.

"With any creative process, there are ups and downs," Osder said. "Some days you feel like you're doing something incredible, and other days you feel like it's never going to work. And when a project lasts this long, the highs get higher and the lows get lower.

"One of the biggest difference-makers on this film was having a partner throughout," he added. "There were times when I thought something was good enough and Will pushed me to go further. That partnership has been one of the most fulfilling parts of the process."

Youmans echoed that sentiment, describing their collaboration as a balance of different skills and perspectives.

"It's a good marriage. Jason has filmmaking experience, technical skills and industry connections, while I contributed research, subject-matter expertise and enough naivete to try impractical things." Youmans said. "Luckily, Jason is very patient."

Youmans is the author of "Unlikely Audience: Al Jazeera's Struggle in America" and a nationally recognized scholar whose work has appeared in publications including The Washington Post, Newsweek, Variety and The New York Times.

When he learned that "Who Killed Alex Odeh?" had been accepted into Sundance, he said he was overcome with emotion.

"I had tears of joy at the news. We worked for so long and faced so many rejections," Youmans said. "And I thought about what it would mean for Alex's family who entrusted us with telling their story."

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