The National Library of Israel (NLI) opened its new building a few weeks after October 7 and has continued to operate throughout the conflict, so it’s fitting that it will present the ninth edition of the Docu.Text Festival, the Documentary Film Festival at the NLI, beginning on August 18.
Given the NLI’s role as a repository of documents and literature critical to Israel’s history, several films and programs in the festival will be concerned with the current conflict, starting with the opening-night film, which will be the premiere of We Will Dance Again, by Yariv Mozer, which looks at the Hamas massacre at the Nova Festival through interviews with survivors and families of the victims, along with footage shot both by Nova participants and by the terrorists themselves, much of which was broadcast live to show their crimes to the world.
More than 360 festivalgoers and staff were killed at the music and dance festival, about one in nine of those attending, and more than 40 were taken hostage, several of whom remain in Hamas captivity. “I’m never going to be the person that I was before the 7th of October,” says one of the survivors in the film. “And I’m trying to figure out who I’m going to be now.”
Mozer has directed several acclaimed documentaries such as The Devil’s Confession: The Lost Eichmann Tapes, and dramas, including Snails in the Rain. We Will Dance Again won two awards at the Documentary Edge Festival earlier this year.
This film, which will be shown on television in Israel in late September on Hot 8, which is one of its producers, will also be widely shown internationally. It will be shown in theaters in throughout the US on August 29 and September 1, ahead of its US streaming premiere on Paramount+ scheduled for the fall. The theatrical run is taking place with the support of Iconic Events Releasing. It is virtually unheard of for an Israeli documentary to be shown in US theaters outside of the context of a festival. In addition, We Will Dance Again will be shown at Laemmle Encino in Los Angeles for a week beginning on August 23, which will qualify it for consideration for an Oscar nomination.
Susan Zirinsky, president of See It Now Studios, which is one of the producers of the film, who was previously the president of CBS News, said in a statement, “The human cost of the Hamas attack in Israel and the war that followed in Gaza has been catastrophic for both Israelis and Palestinians. It is a painful story of unfathomable tragedy, but also of bravery, sacrifice, and heroism. This film is a document of history, of one of the attacks that began on October 7th at 6:29 in the morning.”
Other companies that produced the film, from both Israel and abroad, include Bitachon 365, HSCC, BBC Storyville, Arturo Interian, MGM Television, and SIPUR. The documentary will be broadcast on television around the world in the fall.
What else is happening at Docu.Text Festival?
There will be a number of seminars about documenting this war, including one with journalist Ben Shani, a director for the television program, Fact (Uvda), who made the film, Table for Eight, about the released hostage, Abigail Mor Idan and her family, and Shani Drori, an editor for Uvda. Other seminars will focus on protecting archives during times of war.
The Chaos of War is a program of short student films about the war by students at the Steve Tisch School of Film and Television at Tel Aviv University.
IN ADDITION to dealing with the war, the festival features many films on different aspects of literature, history, and religion, from Israel and around the world. There will be several films about prominent rabbis and their impact on society. The screening of the movie King of the Sephardim by Ofer Pinchasov, about the late spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, will include an appearance by his daughter, Adina Bar-Shalom, an educator, writer, and activist, in conversation with Rabbi Benny Lau, on the topic, The Rabbi’s Status in Israel, Moses or Aharon?. Handwritten letters by Yosef from NLI’s collection will be on display at the library.
The Last Righteous Man by Rafael Balalu is a portrait of the Jewish-Moroccan Abuhazira dynasty, which has been a leading force in Jewish communities for centuries, and which included the spiritual leader, the Baba Sali.
Renen Schorr founded and helmed the Jerusalem Sam Spiegel School of Film and Television for decades, as well as directing several feature films. In his latest movie, Wake Up, Grandson – Letters to My Rebellious Rabbi, he looks at the life and legacy of his grandfather, Rabbi Avraham Heller, a distinguished rabbinical scholar and a hero of the battle of Safed during the Independence War.
Schorr spotlights his relationship with his grandfather, who begged him to reconsider his decision to become a filmmaker and return to rabbinical study and eventually asked Schorr to make a movie about him. An epilogue in the film details Schorr’s decision to officially add Heller to his legal name. Schorr will be present at the screening and will take part in a conversation.
The closing event will be a screening of The Albums: Eifo HaYeled (“Where’s the kid?”) – Zman Sukkar (Sugar Time), featuring a live concert by the band commemorating the 30th anniversary of its debut album, with guest Yermi Kaplan.
There will be screenings of well-received films that premiered at Docaviv, most of which are being shown for the first time in Jerusalem. These include Nesher, Yair Raveh’s compelling look at the movies and life of director Avi Nesher, which will include a conversation with the film’s cinematographer, Eliran Knoller; Barak Heymann’s Rabbi Capoeira, an engaging and affectionate portrait of an ultra-Orthodox man who has made it his life’s mission to bring the Afro-Brazilian martial art to his community, which will be followed by a conversation with the director and the film’s protagonists; and The Commandant’s Shadow by Daniela Volker, which looks at the struggle of the son of the commandant of Auschwitz to come to terms with his father’s crimes and is also a portrait of Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, an Auschwitz survivor, and her family.
Certain films in the festival will be especially appropriate to see at the National Library. These include Nurith Aviv’s Wandering Letter, a look at the letter “R” featuring interviews with authors, translators, and linguists, which will also include a workshop by Yael Mushkin. Joanna Rudnick’s Story & Pictures By looks at young children’s book authors and puts their work in the context of classic children’s literature.
For the full program of the festival and to order tickets, go to https://docutext.nli.org.il/en