Who tells the story of October 7th?
Southern creators at the front of the stage
Thursday | 14.11.2024 | 16:00-17:30 | Cinematheque - Hall 2
October 7th left most of the southern filmmakers speechless in the face of the magnitude of the horrors they experienced, displaced from their homes in their own country, lacking words in the face of the enormity of the disaster and the loss. While for most of them that accursed day in October is not yet nearing an end - certainly when the hostages continue to be abandoned in captivity - a few days after the disaster, many filmmakers came out with a camera, mainly from the center of the country, and began to document the events throughout the Gaza border area and the focal points of the events. Many films in which filmmakers from the area are not involved are already in advanced stages of production, and some are already being distributed on television channels and abroad. It seems that precisely in these critical moments, the voice of those who actually experienced that day and its consequences themselves is being left behind. It is of unquestionable importance that those who continue to experience the dumb horror of that day are also the ones who must be the first and the pioneering force in its initial cinematic formulation, the contemporary cinematic images from which the future images of October 7th will arise.
The panel to be held at the festival - in collaboration with the Media Directorate in the Negev and the Unfathomable Cinema Project - will for the first time deal directly with the explosive issues of outlining the cinematic narrative of October 7th, the way it has been appropriated by different filmmakers and films, and the call for the creation of a cinematic infrastructure by those who experienced not only that cursed day in person, but also the long years of abandonment and neglect that have characterized life throughout the Negev.
Participants: Ronit Ifergan, Michal Lavi, Lior Oron, Rotem Elkayam
Moderator: Shani Kiniso