Bundles of hair. Glasses. Half a shoe. A half-eaten lollypop.
Burnt cars. A wall riddled with bullet holes. Food scraps.
Blood. Lots of blood.
The imagery is confronting. But it is our responsibility to bear witness.
Which is what Yariv Mozer believes too.
When October 7 happened in Israel, Mozer was sitting in his home wondering what he could do. As a documentary filmmaker, he knew it was his responsibility to do something for future generations, and he knew what happened at the Nova Music Festival site was going to be his focus.
“The Nova was, for me, the symbol from all the horrific events that happened on the 7th of October,” he told The AJN over Zoom from Israel. “I felt that was the most non-political event. It wasn’t an army base, it wasn’t a village or a settlement or a kibbutz where people lived, which in a way, were the aim of those terrorists. This festival was this thing happening on that day for children, I call them children, although they were in their 20s, but for me, they were children, coming to celebrate life, love, peace. And they had to meet the most vicious and cruel terror attack.”
“It became part of our life for a very long period of time. And it has a price. But it’s nothing compared to what the survivors had to go through … I’m doing something important for them. I’m delivering their message, their truth, and that’s what gave me the strength to do this film.” Yariv Mozer
Mozer recalls that in the immediate aftermath, he began furiously texting every person he knew, especially those in the army, to get permission to go down south. It took several days before he could get there. And that’s where We Will Dance Again started.
The documentary is a feature-length film with testimony from survivors about what they experienced, what they saw and how they are coping.
It’s eerie seeing footage of the festival being set up. ‘Walking’ through the tents, moving through the dancefloor. As so many of the interviewees said and alluded to, the freedom that they felt while in the middle of the desert – music blaring from the speakers, surrounded by friends – was liberating. Far from the horror that descended on the festival on that fateful Saturday morning.
As so many Nova Music Festival attendees have said, trance is a state of mind. And for festival-goers, it was a beautiful, peaceful state of mind. In We Will Dance Again, footage of Shani Louk dancing and Ruth Peretz smiling is contrasted against footage from Hamas body cams – with terrorists yelling “may you martyr yourself” as the cameras rolled.
Viewers very quickly realise that the terrorists had done their research; cheering when they arrived in Kibbutz Be’eri, celebrating that they had taken hostages.
What has since come to light as well is that the Nova Music Festival was not a target. Hamas had no idea the festival was taking place in the field until they hang-glided into it. In fact, in We Will Dance Again, you hear the terrorists referring to their find as their “lucky day”.
“This festival was this thing happening on that day for children … coming to celebrate life, love, peace. And they had to meet the most vicious and cruel terror attack” Yariv Mozer
Mozer acknowledged that while the Hamas body cam footage is difficult to see, it has become an important piece of the documentary puzzle. Much of the October 7 footage used in the documentary was not broadcast on any mediums. And showing the footage, as harrowing as it is, forms proof of what occurred.
“It’s crucial for this film,” Mozer explained. “The week after the 7th of October, people started questioning what happened on that day. So, for me, it was very clear that as a documentary filmmaker, this is what I need to bring to the world, the truth of what happened. So, it’s not only bringing the voice of the survivors, it’s also looking for the material that Hamas terrorists published on social networks, or that was part of their GoPro cameras that they held with them. And these are the horrific images that are being part of this film. But it’s very important to give the two angles of the story, so it’s not only what the survivors had to go through, but you also see it from the eyes of the perpetrators. [You] see what they bragged [about] in filming, in documenting for themselves, and then you can judge for yourself. I’m just putting it in front of you, but how can you deny or question what happened there when you see it in front of your eyes?”
While in many documentaries there is narration, in We Will Dance Again Mozer explained there’s nothing except the survivors’ voices and the images that were captured. It doesn’t need anything else – these are stories from the people who experienced them.
It’s heartbreaking hearing the survivors share their stories, especially about those who have become symbols of the Nova Festival – like Shani and Keshet – and those who have become symbols of the hostages.
One of the survivors interviewed is Ziv Abud, whose boyfriend Eliya Cohen was kidnapped alongside Hersh Goldberg-Polin and Or Levy from the roadside shelter where they were hiding. Intertwined through her own story, Ziv also shares her memories of Aner, who threw out almost every grenade that was launched into the shelter, saving many lives, and Osama, who was standing at the front of the shelter and tried to talk the terrorists down. She remembers hearing Hersh saying he had lost his hand. And she recalls holding Eliya’s hand before feeling it slowly slipping away.
It’s just one of the heartbreaking interviews that are shared throughout the documentary.
Another interviewee, Noa, would be known to many people who have seen footage from the festival. One of the voices you hear calling out from behind the DJ stand, yelling “Tzevah Adom” is hers. Standing behind the stage, she was one of the first people to realise what was happening.
What’s incredible throughout the documentary is how open and honest the survivors are with the influence that drugs and alcohol had on them. Many survivors have questioned whether the drugs and alcohol in their systems potentially made it easier to escape, as they had no inhibitions – they simply drove or ran.
Mozer said it’s a significant part of the film. And what’s noted in the film is that many festival-goers were waiting for the drugs to hit at sunrise – the peak of the party. The drugs were reaching their peak as the terrorists descended.
“They had to have a lot of courage to face the camera and say, frankly, that this is what they took, if it was ecstasy or any other drug, and what was the influence, and how did they feel in the party,” he said. “How do you feel under a terror attack when you’re on drugs and you need to fight for your survival? That is part of the film. I don’t judge them, really. I think we shouldn’t, because it’s part of trance music festivals. It’s a place in which people can feel free and safe.”
Explaining that the interviewees were chosen very carefully – depending on their level of trauma and whether they were able to speak freely and frankly – Mozer said it was important for the crew to meet the interviewees in advance. The crew wanted to make sure that those willing to talk would be able to fully share their story without sugar-coating things. The world needs to hear what exactly they went through, whether it was hiding in a fridge and facing death either from suffocation or from Hamas terrorists, or playing dead under a pile of bodies.
Mozer also explained that it was imperative that there was psychological support on site, whenever interviews were taking place, both for the survivors and the crew.
“It was very hard to cope with this film,” Mozer recalled. “We’ve all had to give the time, the efforts, the mental attention to the 7th of October. It became part of our life for a very long period of time. And it has a price. But it’s nothing compared to what the survivors had to go through. So that is always something I remind myself. I’m doing something important for them. I’m delivering their message, their truth, and that’s what gave me the strength to do this film.”
What’s a common theme between all the survivors interviewed is the unimaginable number of terrorists who, while having no regard for where their bullets were going, were eerily calm.
Survivors spoke about the bullets whipping past their heads, how the terrorists were playing a type of Russian roulette – who would get shot next. And they all shared just how exposed they were running across a vast field with nowhere to hide.
Mozer uses graphics and maps to show clearly where everything was happening and how far festival attendees had to travel – whether by foot or car – to escape.
“You’ll understand exactly the proximity to the Gaza border, how much they had to run, how many terrorists were out there,” he said. “And the fact that they were almost trapped from all directions, and it became, and I’m quoting their own words, like a Russian roulette, because the bullets were being fired from all directions, and also on open fields or in the bushes or in the between the trees. You were just a sitting duck or a running duck.”
Another survivor referred to the situation as Squid Games. She was being hunted with nowhere to hide and nowhere to run; she saw people dying in front of her.
“It’s insane,” Mozer said. “You see it because some of them are filming while running and while hiding, so you get to see everything, which helps to understand this scale of attack.”
Survivors also explained that they had nowhere to even drive with terrorists infiltrating all along the border and descending on the area from every direction. Even the police who eventually came didn’t know which way to evacuate people. They describe the scene as “apocalyptic”, “hell” and “a world that’s been destroyed”.
The title of the film – We Will Dance Again – has become a battle cry, not just for survivors but for Israel and indeed the Jewish Diaspora.
And for Mozer, the film plays an important role in showcasing and helping the trauma that is being felt and will continue to be felt for years to come.
“It has become the story of a generation. You meet people in the streets of Tel Aviv who weren’t at the party, but lost friends or relatives,” he explained. “It’s a generation that suffered from this trauma, and they are all keen to say, ‘we will dance again’. We will be able, one day, to raise our spirit and return to who we are. And that’s part of what we all need to do and remember for them as the victims of this horrific attack. Good will win.
“I’m a grandson of Holocaust survivors … my grandparents wouldn’t believe that they would raise and build a Jewish state in Israel, and this state will be strong as it is, and nothing will defeat us, really. Our people are strong. We have also obstacles to go through, but we will overcome. Definitely, absolutely.”
We Will Dance Again will screen on Channel 9 on October 7 to mark the one year anniversary of the Hamas terror attack.
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