It has been one year since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
365 days since Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, unleashing an attack that left more 1,200 people dead and 251 taken hostage, nearly all civilians. It was the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
As we approach the anniversary of the brutal events that unfolded on Oct. 7, journalist and author-turned-producer Jamie Geller — a Philadelphia native — and Aish Global have created a documentary, which will premiere worldwide this Monday. The film, ‘October 7: Voices of Pain, Hope and Heroism,’ will be available to stream for free around the globe beginning 12 a.m. ET and will remain on the site indefinitely.
To talk more about the impact of the film and what it will feature (five stories from different POVs of the day to be exact), Geller sat down with Metro to discuss what went into creating the documentary from beginning to end.
How did you get the ball rolling to create ‘October 7: Voices of Pain, Hope, and Heroism’?
I think that this time and place in history with Oct. 7, the stories were telling themselves everywhere you turned. Whether I met somebody here on the street, whether it’s my family or my neighbor, someone who’s directly affected, or whether I read an article—I just felt like this needs to be made into a movie of some sort.
The hardest part was whittling down the stories. I’m the Chief Media and Marketing Officer at Aish, I oversee all of the media content and all of our online educational content. So that’s social media for 30 different accounts on seven social media platforms and our websites. Immediately after Oct. 7, we established a digital war room and we were working around the clock on multiple time zones. The stories just came flooding in and we told them in all different ways: Some of them as graphical slide throughs, some of them as short little 30 or 60 second social reels or short videos, and some of them as articles.
We had this insatiable appetite and hearing all the stories, the hardest part was whittling them down and deciding which five we would share. So we came up with some criteria that I think are very unique to this documentary.
Which stories will viewers get to see in the documentary?
We wanted to make sure that we represented a cross section of the Israeli population and citizenry, as well as a cross section of the stories. So the story from the eyes of a family who has a fallen soldier, the story from the eyes of a family who rescued their own, a story from the eyes of a family who had someone who was killed at the Nova Festival, the story from the eyes of the family that has a living hostage (we hope, please God) currently still being held in Gaza, and from a family who had a hostage who was killed by friendly fire.
The most important criteria was that it was a display of heroism, primarily of spirit. That’s what we were really looking for. It’s not a history lesson, it’s not a memorial where people are just crying… but [we want people] to walk away empowered and knowing not that we can just survive, but that we are surviving and thriving even in the face of what happened.
There’s one story that broke the mold, the story of the retired Major General Noam Tibon, father of Amir Tibon. He actually displayed tremendous heroism on that day, saving his family, his son, his daughter-in-law, his two granddaughters as well as many people along the way.
How were you able to give everyone the space to talk about what was likely the worst day of their life?
I did a lot less talking than I’ve done [in the past.] As a journalist, there’s a lot of questions to ask, but I didn’t have anything pre-written. I know the story so well, but I let them guide and do most of the talking. I try not to interject too much because I found in those quiet moments that I held my tongue were some of the moments where they were able to feel, and the audience was able to feel their emotions. I hope that I was sensitive enough, and I did try to be, but it was a very heavy, emotionally challenging time.
Viewers will also get to see some home videos of family members and loved ones who were/are involved. Why was that important to show?
The most important thing was for everyone to be able to connect emotionally with the people that we were talking about. And in all instances, except for the General story, all these people are either dead or being held. So the way to connect is to see and hear them.
Overall, why is this a documentary that is meant to be seen?
We see the different angles that made up this horrifying fateful day. So I think that that’s important, it’s a real holistic picture if we zoom out, and I think [it is] representative of the different populations and areas that were affected and people that were affected.
Most importantly, you will cry. But, sometimes it’s cathartic, it’s healing. It allows us to identify with the pain of our brothers and sisters, and at the same time, you will feel empowered. There is a resilience of spirit that is showcased here. It’s not about just survival, it’s about thriving. It’s about rebuilding the strength of the Jewish spirit and walking away empowered. That was the goal of this film, and I hope that people feel it.
Is there anything else that you want audiences to know?
I do tell people that if you want to take action, you want to join Oct7film.com, which is where you can watch the film when it goes live on Oct. 7 at 12 a.m. Eastern time. There will also be other ideas below the film itself to allow you to take action, to become involved in fighting and joining the thousands of people that are taking responsibility for a stronger, brighter, more secure Jewish future.
I think people want to do something, you see how people were hit so hard and have every reason to crawl up into a ball and never get out of bed again. And look at the joy that they’re bringing and the responsibility that they’ve taken on their shoulders to help others and to make the world a better place. And so, we’ll give you some of those ideas when the film premieres on Oct. 7.
To learn more about ‘October 7: Voices of Pain, Hope and Heroism’, visit Oct7film.com
