Surviving October 7th: We Will Dance Again – 'blistering' documentary 'unfolds like a disaster movie'
Yariv Mozer's 'visceral' film features mobile phone footage captured by survivors of Hamas attack at the Nova music festival
"I can't, in any ordinary sense, recommend Yariv Mozer's 90-minute Storyville documentary, 'Surviving October 7th: We Will Dance Again'", said Rachel Cooke in The New Statesman. "It will destroy you; sleep was impossible for me afterwards."
But the film – part of a collection marking the anniversary of 7 October – is "astonishing". Featuring mobile phone videos from terrified festival-goers, interviews with survivors and Hamas bodycam footage, the harrowing documentary illuminates the "true horror" of the attack.
Preserved first-hand in "visceral detail", the film "unfolds much like a disaster movie", said Rachel Aroesti in The Guardian. One young woman "passes out inside the airless fridge where she cowers for hours", while a man is forced to hurl back a live grenade that is thrown inside the shelter where he is hiding. In each case, the chance of survival for these unarmed civilians seems all but impossible.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
There are "countless things that the film opts not to discuss". The delayed response from Israeli authorities following the attack is "barely" mentioned (it took hours for police to arrive at the festival), and the documentary provides "almost no context" about the wider conflict. While the footage included is "graphic and extremely disturbing", the film fails to "convey all the dimensions of the atrocity that occurred that day".
For some viewers this may be a "problematic omission", but the film's goal is "very clear": it shines a light on the experience of the "utterly defenceless" Israeli citizens at the Nova music festival that day, "and it does so unflinchingly, exhaustively and movingly".
Despite a caption highlighting the "catastrophic human cost" of the attack, neither the "bloody aftermath" nor the "staggering security failures" are Mozer's primary focus, added Jasper Rees in The Telegraph. His subject is "raw, pure, uncut" terror – "as it happened and as it is traumatically relived by those who saw it, felt it and were somehow hardwired to document it on smartphones".
In one of the most horrific clips in this "blistering" film, IDF footage shows a "massacre of the innocents among the Coca-Cola-branded fridges" by the main sound stage. For anyone planning to watch Storyville's upcoming sister film, "Life and Death in Gaza", this is an essential watch. "And, it should go without saying, vice versa."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Irenie Forshaw is a features writer at The Week, covering arts, culture and travel. She began her career in journalism at Leeds University, where she wrote for the student newspaper, The Gryphon, before working at The Guardian and The New Statesman Group. Irenie then became a senior writer at Elite Traveler, where she oversaw The Experts column.
-
5 conspiratorial cartoons about FEMA
Cartoons Artists take on paper towel politics, king-sized conspiracies, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Take an island-hopping trip around Brittany
The Week Recommends From neolithic monuments to colourful harbours, there is much to discover
By The Week UK Published
-
Why has Joker: Folie à Deux divided critics?
Talking Point The sequel to Joker is 'staggeringly inept' in its attempts to explore mental health issues – but Lady Gaga is 'magnetic'
By The Week UK Published
-
Take an island-hopping trip around Brittany
The Week Recommends From neolithic monuments to colourful harbours, there is much to discover
By The Week UK Published
-
Lindsey Hilsum shares her favourite books of poetry
The Week Recommends The journalist and author shares works by James Fenton, Sharon Olds and more
By The Week UK Published
-
Take advantage of sublime October weather at these 7 hotels
The Week Recommends Rain, snow and sleet will absolutely not be keeping you from your destination
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
Les Misérables: The Arena Spectacular – an 'exhilarating and life-affirming' show
The Week Recommends 'Showstopping' set-pieces have audience in 'raptures' at Glasgow Hydro
By The Week UK Published
-
A Different Man: 'original and daring' film starring Marvel veteran Sebastian Stan
The Week Recommends 'Bleakly funny' satire explores the very different lives of two men with neurofibromatosis
By The Week UK Published
-
Our Evenings: Alan Hollinghurst's 'finest' novel yet
The Week Recommends A gay, half-Burmese actor looks back on his life in this 'compellingly fresh' book
By The Week UK Published
-
What to see in London during Frieze Week
The Week Recommends From sculpture parks to major shows, there is plenty to see in the capital
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Last updated
-
Alma's Not Normal, season two: 'hilarious' sitcom is 'pretty much perfect'
The Week Recommends The second instalment of Sophie Willan's semi-autobiographical comedy is a 'triumph'
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published