Picture This is a brilliant series of interviews by Ben Shani with those who experienced October 7 in different ways. It is currently airing in Israel on Kan 11 and will become available in the US on the streaming service ChaiFlicks on October 6.
The series uses illustrations and animations by acclaimed Israeli artists of testimonies, which creates a vivid impression of events that were never recorded on camera. The animations, while evocative, are not overly graphic, so this series can be recommended even for those who feel a traditionally made documentary using film clips might be too intense for them. Yoni Goodman (Waltz with Bashir), Lena Guberman (Where Is Anne Frank), Yaniv Shimony (Uncle Leo’s Adventures), and David Polonsky (Waltz with Bashir, Where Is Anne Frank, Legend of Destruction) are among the artists whose work is featured in the series.
All eight episodes are highly recommended. One that stands out is a unique story from the war, that of Mia Leimberg, the 17-year-old who was kidnapped on October 7 with her mother and several relatives from a kibbutz where they were visiting relatives. But it wasn’t only her relatives who were taken hostage along with Mia, as the world discovered when she was released in late 2023 – she also managed to smuggle her dog, Bella, in and out of Gaza.
It’s a harrowing story, like all stories from that day, but Mia’s clear-eyed perceptiveness as she recounts her decision to take along her beloved pet is almost beyond belief. It proves the adage that truth is stranger than fiction. Having Bella there to care for helped keep Mia’s spirits up as she survived the ordeal.
Looking at another episode
Another memorable episode features Ayelet Epstein, a Kfar Aza resident, whose son and other relatives were murdered on that day. She describes herself as an ordinary soccer mom, and it’s heartbreaking to hear how instead of going to a kite festival on the afternoon of October 7, she had to learn of her son’s murder, in a house not far from where she was hiding. Her son’s fiancée survived the carnage, and never used the wedding dress she already had in her closet.
Another hair-raising story is the account by Yair Avital, a member of the rapid defense squad in Be’eri, who spent the day with a handful of squad members, trying as hard as they could to defend the kibbutz from Hamas terrorists.
He provided eyewitness evidence of the fact that a huge group of soldiers gathered outside the kibbutz in the afternoon, while the slaughter was continuing. He begged them to come in, but they were awaiting orders.
Yair still hopes to rebuild his family’s life on the kibbutz.
“I feel overwhelmed by the will to rebuild Be’eri and go back there. I can’t bear the thought that this is how the story ends, me on a stretcher and my children barefoot as the kibbutz burns, without anything, hungry and thirsty,” he said.