Red Alert - a new TV series about the events of October 7th

Red Alert, directed by Lior Hefetz, is a heart-rending television drama series, produced by Keshet channel 12 in Israel and currently streaming on Paramount+.

Based on actual events and personal stories, this series tells the painful story of the Hamas invasion of southern Israel, the massacre of civilians, and taking of hostages on October 7, 2023. The story unfolds like a thriller – compelling, distressing and so-very realistic with in-depth characterizations. For some, the story is still too raw and watching this series might be too difficult.  For others, it will provide just what is needed to process the terrible events of that day.

There are four parallel stories.  There is a family living in Nir Oz – parents and three children.  They can’t lock the door to their safe room and they are shivering with fear as they hear the nearby shouting and shooting and read the messages on their phones from their neighbors. There is the couple who are both police officers.  The wife, Nofar, is working at the Nova festival.  Her husband, Kobi, is trying desperately to save her. Itamar is a combat soldier, who runs out of his home in Ofakim to help defend his neighborhood against the terrorists.  Meanwhile, his middle-aged mother, Tali, begins to bravely ferry the wounded to an evacuation point.  Ayub, a Muslim from Gaza, living in Israel, is driving in his car with his wife and infant son.  When the terrorists shoot at his car and his pregnant wife is killed, he runs with his baby and hides in a roadside shelter.

These are stories of heroism and sacrifice.  A father willing to sacrifice to protect his family.  A husband willing to run into battle to rescue his wife.  A middle-aged woman taking risks trying to evacuate the wounded. An Arab man running to warn the IDF troops of terrorists waiting in ambush.

Almost 1200 people were slaughtered that day.  And close to 250 were taken hostage.  These are real stories which will help us to enshrine the memory of that day.  They will bring tears to your eyes.

 

Thank you to My Readers

 I began writing this blog in June of 2008.  

Now, 17 years later, my readers are still loyal and attentive!  

We have passed 700,000 hits. Is that a lot in 17 years?  Perhaps not in this age of tik tok and instagram.  

But, I feel honored that you have continued to read what I write!  

Thank you for that support!

The Sea, directed by Shai Carmeli Pollak, wins the Ophir Award

The Sea, directed by Shai Carmeli Pollak and produced by Baher Agbaria, previously reviewed on this blog, was the big winner of the Ophir Award last week, which means the film will represent Israel at the Academy Awards competition.  In addition, the star of the film, 13-year-old Muhammad Gazawi, won the Ophir Award for best actor.

The choice of the film, which is mostly in Arabic, and is about a 12-year-old boy dreaming about being able to visit the Mediterranean Sea, angered the powers-that-be in Israel.  Claiming that the film defames Israel and the IDF, the Ministry of Culture and Sports has declared the suspension of funding for the Ophir film awards in the future.

The Sea is a road movie, and as the boy travels from his village near Ramallah towards the sea, it clearly shows the dissonance between the reality of life on the occupied West Bank and normal life in Tel Aviv.  Perhaps just opening the eyes of Israeli viewers to this contrast would be an enormous achievement. As reported in Ha’aretz today, the filmmaker stated, “I don’t expect the film to change minds, but maybe it can open a window, a crack, a glimpse into another perspective.”

 

The Role of Architecture is furthering a Political Agenda

Rule of Stone, directed by Danae Elon, an Israel-Canada co-production, provides insight into the architectural history of Jerusalem.  Through the stories linked to the beautiful Jerusalem stone, which by law (since British Mandatory times) covers all of the buildings in the city, the viewer learns about the role of historical appropriation that architecture can play within the city.

Through the use of archival footage and interviews with architects, urban planners, and local Palestinians, the film provides a riveting story about the quarrying and chiseling of Jerusalem stone, stone that is literally part of the building blocks of the city, but which subtly covers a relentless Israeli strategy of annexation and appropriation within and around the Old City and throughout East Jerusalem.

The film introduces us to a Palestinian stonemason whose home within the quarry was demolished.  We meet architects such as Moshe Safdie, Ada Karmi and Zvi Efrat, all of whom have played roles in designing the growing city of Jerusalem.  Safdie talks about his Habitat ’67 Canadian village which was modeled on a Palestinian village.  Efrat talks about the “use of brutal force to redesign the city”.   Examples are given such as the destruction of the Mughrabi neighborhood adjacent to the Western Wall, within the walls of the Old City, and the destruction of the Mamilla slum neighborhood, adjacent to the Jaffa Gate, in order to build fancy housing which would connect East and West.  In both of these cases, political decisions have required the destruction of entire neighborhoods.  

In another instance, we see how the Jewish attempt to pretend that we have been in every corner of this land forever, leads to the incursion into the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan.  Here, a new visitor’s center called Kedem is planned, which will further the political agenda of Jewish sovereignty over all of Jerusalem.

Perhaps even more shocking is the intentional policy of forcefully guarding the demographics of Jerusalem at a 70% Jewish and 30% Palestinian ratio. This policy requires that the building of new Palestinian homes be completely stifled. No building permits are issued and therefore, when someone adds a room to their home, the municipality arrives and demands that it be demolished.

In dealing with the cruelty of building policies within the city, the erasure of history, the appropriation of land and the dispossession of Palestinians, the question is asked of Safdie, do architects have a political and ethical responsibility?

Can Jerusalem be a city for all of its inhabitants, an open city, with freedom to live and thrive for all of its citizens? According to this film, this is certainly not the direction of the authorities in Israel.

Rule of Stone (2024, documentary, 84 minutes) is available from Filmoption.

A New Student Film -- Carmen

As part of the program committee of the Gesher Multi-Cultural Film Fund, I have just had the opportunity to watch a very special short film called Carmen, directed by Yahli Maoz (18 minutes). The film was screened as the opening event at the 2025 International Student Film Festival which just took place in Tel Aviv.  It is about a woman named Carmen, from the Philippines, who is the caregiver for a resident of a moshav in the center of Israel, Ein Vered.

Walking down a street in their rural area, Carmen finds her employer's cat, who has been hit by a car.  She hesitates telling her employer and instead takes the cat and buries her under a bush and decides to keep the cat’s death a secret. But Carmen is a religious woman and she feels bad telling a lie. There is a beautiful scene in which Carmen goes to her singing group, which meets outdoors in someone’s yard, and is made up of people of Philippine background and some of the elderly people that they care for.  Carmen leads them in singing Amazing Grace in her mother tongue.

I love student films which provide us with a small window into the world of what is important to the next generation of young filmmakers.

 

Recommendations for Selichot Programs This Year

 I have tried to choose subjects which are particularly relevant this year.

PTSD

In the post October7th, 2023 period, and during this ongoing war, we have begun to see the terrible effects of war and trauma.  Literally thousands of Israelis, mostly young soldiers, are suffering from some form of post traumatic stress.  Although made before October 7^th, 50 Broken Pieces, directed by Micha Amitai, is a strikingly moving documentary film (70 minutes) which provides a portrayal of two men in crisis and offers us a glimpse into how shellshock can affect a person’s life.  

A Memoir by Renen Schorr

Renen Schorr was well-known in Israel for two major achievements – he directed the iconic coming-of-age film, Late Summer Blues (1986), and he was the founding director for 30 years of the Sam Spiegel Film and TV School in Jerusalem.  He died just a few months ago.

In his sophisticated documentary film, Wake Up, Grandson – Letters to My Rebellious Rabbi (המעורר) (93 minutes), Schorr has combined three elements -- a personal memoir, the story of the state of Israel (since its establishment in 1948), and the story of his grandfather who had a profound impact on his life.  

I suggest that you recommend to your participants to watch LateSummer Blues before coming to see this highly recommended memoir!

Looking Back Two Years

The story of the terrible massacre that occurred at a roadside shelter (מיגונית) near Kibbutz Re’im on that terrible day, October 7^th, 2023, can be seen in its entirety in the hard-hitting documentary film The Last Recording (Hebrew title: Death Shelter: The Last Recording), by Assaf Liberman and Nadav Ben Zur.  Here is the story that so many people have heard – the terrorists threw grenades into the shelter and Aner, repeatedly picked them up and threw them back out.  He was a true hero.  This is when his friend, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, lost his hand. 

Holocaust Memory

Perhaps you would prefer a feature film, instead of a documentary? 

The Property, directed by Dana Modan, is a Holocaust feature film that includes a bit of romance, some nostalgia, a lot of humor and an array of quirky characters. 

 

Documentary Film about Singer Dafna Armoni made by her daughter, Ella Armoni

Girl, Woman ((ספק ילדה, ספק אשה, directed by Ella Armoni, is a fascinating and masterful work of art.  It offers the portrait of two women – mother and daughter – one a singer and the other a filmmaker.

The mother, Dafna Armoni, was an iconic singer with a painful story.  As a young woman, she sang in Avi Nesher’s 1978 cult film, The Troupe (aka Sing Your Heart Out) about an army singing troupe. She was a singing sensation, and over the years she shared a stage with, among others,  Shalom Hanoch, Arik Einstein, the Dag HaNachash – all of which we see in archival clips. At the age of 37, she gave birth to twins – Ella and Eden. The father of the twins has been a well-kept secret all these years.

The daughter, Ella, is a filmmaker.  Now, at the age of 30, she is making a film about her mother and about their complicated relationship.

Today, Dafna is a lonely and depressed woman with financial difficulties.  While cleaning out her cluttered apartment, she gives Ella a small suitcase that she tells her to keep for her and not to open.  Obviously, Ella opens it anyway, and finds it filled with letters from her father whose identity was always a secret, and many video recordings of the twins as little children back in the 90s, as if these recordings were made as return letters to the secret father.

Girl, Woman (documentary, 2025, 80 minutes) is an extraordinary film, filled with angst, introspection and love.  It is available from Go2Films.