Roy Cohen’s pressing problem involves where to bring up his precious curly-headed little daughter. Should his family immigrate from the “moral decay of Israel” or stay to promote social justice and peace? Haunting him, causing paralysis in decision-making, is the murder of his childhood friend.
“Far From Maine” is a decidedly different perspective on the Middle East conflict because its genesis is right here in the United States.
In 1993, a renowned American author and journalist, John Wallach, founded a program exclusively for selected youth leaders called Seeds of Peace. Inaugurated in 1993, the first 46 Seeds were from Egypt, Israel, and Palestine. In the fall, they were invited by President Clinton to attend the 1993 Oslo Accords between Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat at the White House.
In the summer of 1997, Roy Cohen met Aseel Aslih, a charismatic Palestinian, at the 5th annual Seeds of Peace Camp. “Far from Maine” is Roy’s wrenching story about the effect of that friendship.
First, there are three important things to know about Seeds of Peace. The first is that the program now also includes youth from other countries in deep divides, including the US. Second, the process of an invitation to be a Seed is highly selective and requires a nomination from a respective governmental agency. Third, graduates are involved in follow-up opportunities to use the skills and relationships they develop at the camp.
Roy is a tall, good-looking, gentle man who now holds a high-level corporate government job in Israel as head of the Big Data Department at the Israeli Ministry of Health. In this position, he leads “TIMNA,” Israel’s national research infrastructure built for managing secure, large-scale healthcare data. He has a B.A. from Harvard and a Master’s from Cornell. He is also a freelance journalist and essayist who has been published in The Guardian. In addition, he is an award-winning filmmaker and documentarian. Roy lives in Israel and is the father of an adorable little girl and the husband of an American New Englander, Toby Stein.
The memory of Aseel Aslih haunts Roy. They were sent back to Israel and Palestine, respectively, to help change the apartheid and conflict – to be seeds of peace. But 3 years after their peace training, Aseel was murdered by an Israeli. Twenty-three years after that, Hamas led the surprise attack on Israelis. Immediately after that, Israel retaliated with a genocide on the Palestinian people.
Where does Roy stand? Does he waver through time? What are his values? Do they change? Why does the death of Aseel haunt him?
“Far From Maine” is an outstanding documentary because Roy is in conflict. He is in grief. He is torn. And he is a dad for a new generation. What must he do, and where must he live?
This is the story of people living in Israel and in the occupied territory called Palestine. Do you choose to fight for justice (for whom and what?), or do you choose to fight for freedom and peace?
Rating: 10/10
Credits
Director & Screenwriter: Roy Cohen
Co-Writer & Editor: Valentina Cicogna
Featuring: Roy Cohen, Toby Stein, Aseel Aslih, Galith Nir, Shurouq Swaiti, and Yousef Bashir
Producers: Serge Gordey, Claudio Esposito, Anne Svejgård Lund, Sára László, Nicolas Wadimoff, Christian Aune Falch and Torstein Parelius
Directors of Photography: Leandro Monti, Zvi Landsman, and Greg Harriott
Composer (Original Music): Christian Ugenti
Release: May 2, 2026 at the Atlanta Film Festival / Upcoming release July 2026 at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
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