Abramorama has acquired North American theatrical distribution rights to John David Coles documentary The Choice and set a Jan 15 release date at the Quad in NYC followed by a national rollout.
Winner of the Brizzolara Family Foundation Award for Films of Conflict & Resolution at the 2026 Hamptons International Film Festival, The Choice is eligible for an Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary. See trailer below.
A Talking Wall/Gigantic Pictures film produced by Coles, Jason Orans, Pamela Ryan and Tamar Yoffe, the doc interweaves the stories of three women across generations, each marked by war, captivity, and loss: the late Edith “Edie” Eger, renowned psychologist, Holocaust survivor and author of 2017 bestseller The Choice: Embrace the Possible; Iris Haim, an Israeli mother whose son Yotam was taken hostage during the October 7 attacks; and Sapir Cohen, who survived 55 days as a hostage in Gaza. The doc moves between past and present with archival footage, interviews, public appearances, audio recordings and personal writings.
Eger passed away last May at 98. The central pillar of her life and work is that while we cannot change what has happened to us, we can choose how we live now. Having survived Auschwitz, Eger devoted her life to helping Vietnam veterans and others confront trauma, guilt and grief.
“Dr. Edith Eger taught millions of readers through her book that even in the face of unthinkable suffering, we keep the freedom to decide who we become,” said Karol Martesko-Fenster, CEO of AB2 Media Group and Abramorama. “John David Coles has carried that message into the present with extraordinary grace and urgency. At a time when so many people are carrying grief, this film offers a way forward.”
Nonprofit Theoren will host a Global Virtual Watch Event on Kinema Nov. 19 with a live conversation with Coles and Eger’s daughter, clinical psychologist Marianne Engle.
“I set out to make a film about Edie Eger’s legacy and discovered that her legacy was still being written,” said Coles. “Trauma can echo across generations, but so can resilience, and so can hope. My wish is that audiences leave the theater knowing that even when the worst has already happened, we still have a say in how we carry it.”