Israeli Culture Grapples With October 7th Trauma Through Film and Art

Three years after the October 7th attacks, Israeli culture is still seeking ways to process, document, and understand the events that profoundly changed the nation. This week, Tel Aviv hosts several cultural events marking the anniversary. The Tel Aviv Cinematheque presents "Since, Still," a film program featuring Israeli movies created since 2023, alongside discussions with their creators. These films explore themes of bereavement, parental anxiety, trauma, and war, examining how Israeli cinema responds to the post-October 7th reality. Featured films include "Missing Roster," about a football team from Kibbutz Kfar Aza who returned to play after losing family and friends; "Burning Man," about a father struggling to cope with his soldier son's absence; and "Good Morning Gaza," based on combat communications from the war. Documentaries like Yaron Zilberman's "Nir Oz - Paradise/Hell," which chronicles the lives of kibbutz residents, and Dotan Naveh's "Whose Are You?," about women who married into Kibbutz Kfar Aza and found mutual support, will also be screened.

On October 8th, Beit Ariella will host "Creating from the October Seventh," an event by the Edut 710 initiative and the Hebrew University. This multidisciplinary gathering will include art workshops, panels, podcasts, screenings, and performances, featuring artists and individuals affected by the attacks. A key element will be the launch of AI Edut, an AI-powered archive of testimonies from October 7th, allowing users to search for accounts by theme, location, and experience. Workshops in illustration, screenwriting, music, and podcasting will utilize these testimonies. A notable session will pair Tali Haddad, who evacuated the wounded, including her son, under fire on October 7th, with actress Sarit Vino-Elad, who portrayed her in a drama, discussing the gap between lived experience and its artistic representation. Parents of fallen soldier Anar Shapira will also share their efforts to publish his music, art, and writings.

Concurrently, the Israeli Opera is hosting a special version of the exhibition "Sowing in Tears | Treasures from the Be'eri Archive," curated by Gilad Meltzer, from October 6th to 20th. This exhibition, marking both three years since October 7th and 80 years since Kibbutz Be'eri's founding, aims to present eighty years of life in the kibbutz beyond the trauma of the attack. It will showcase the kibbutz's early years, community life, celebrations, and daily existence, drawing from Be'eri Archive's quarter-million items. The opening will include a guided tour and a performance by Israeli Opera soloists. An event on October 11th, "The Battle for the Heart," will feature educators discussing the rebuilding of Be'eri's educational system after the community's evacuation.

Beyond domestic cultural responses, the "International Memory Project of 7.10," founded by Eitan Schwartz, aims to preserve the memory of the massacre for global audiences and future generations through various media. Its first project is a play based on the story of Aviva and Keith Siegel, co-written by Schwartz and playwright Michal Aharoni, slated for performance in Israel and the US. Other planned projects include a monodrama based on Omer Vankert's story and an English-language Hollywood film. This initiative joins existing international productions addressing October 7th, such as "Screams Before Silence," which focused on sexual violence during the attack, and "The Children of October 7th," featuring interviews with child survivors. These efforts collectively aim to transform the narratives of October 7th into a cultural and historical memory that transcends Israel's borders.