Displaying items by tag: Wendy Sachs

OCTOBER 8

US, 2025, 100 minutes, Colour.

Directed by Wendy Sachs.

The 1983 moviie, The Day After, focused on the aftermath of nuclear war. The title of this film, October 8, is also the day after, the Hamas attack on Israel, the massacre, the hostages.

The timeframe for this documentary is October 7 until October 2024. With the ongoing invasion of Gaza, the continuing role of Hamas in the peace negotiations, the numerous deaths in Gaza, especially women and children, the allowing and then the forbidding of food trucks, international diplomacy…, one of the interviewees actually mentioning this towards the end of the film, there is the challenge to the audience of 2025 and later, to look at the wider perspectives.

However, this film is particularly focused, written and directed by Wendy Sachs, one of the producers being prominent actress, Debra Messing, who introduces the film to the wide American audience and beyond. And the focus is on the consequent anti-Semitism in the United States, especially on prominent university campuses in the aftermath of October 7.

There is a wide range of talking heads for the documentary, especially Jewish students (from a range of ethnic backgrounds), political commentators, political representatives, many impassioned speeches.

As it should, the film highlights the horror of the Hamas attack, many clips included, the numbers killed, their ordinary backgrounds, the hostages taken. And, there are many photos of the hostages as well as some interviews with friends and relatives. During the film, there is no mention of the Israeli government, of the attack on Gaza, no mention of Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters and his motivations, his political career as well as the eradication of Hamas. These issues will arise in any discussion about this documentary.

But, what is emphasised is the prevalence of anti-Semitism, memories of the establishment of the state of Israel, the treatment of Palestinians, the bases for some anti-Semitism. However, there are frightening sequences of public protests and demonstrations, vicious statements and, especially in these days of social media, brutal and hostile criminal threats.

The film also highlights the response of heads of universities in dealing with the demonstrations on the various campuses, including Cornell, Harvard, Santa Barbara. Some of the presidents of the universities are seen in Senate hearings, the critique being that they did not deal properly with the anti-Semitism and the violence. Some later resigned.

For Jewish audiences, the Zionist audiences, this is an important reminder of the experience of anti-Semitism, especially in the United States, during 2024. It raises images and memories of past anti-Semitism, especially by the Nazis and the Holocaust.

For non-Jewish audiences, it is a challenge, to check bases for opinions, to check how well informed we actually are about Israel, anti-Semitism, the role and fate of the Palestinians since 1948, the various uprisings.

In 2025, after the events shown in this documentary, the world, the United Nations, have had to face the increasing number of deaths, the number of world organisations and some countries accusations of genocide against the Netanyahu government, the images of death, injuries, destroyed buildings, hospitals, Palestinians continually on the move, the long prevention of entry of food trucks into Gaza in early 2025…

And the long delays in returning hostages and the bodies of hostages.

Not last words or images, but words and images that need to be reflected on, discussed with truth, honesty, reconciliation.