October 7 survivor: ‘I can’t sit through the Nova film’

Featuring raw footage from survivors’ phones and terrorists’ bodycams, it stitches together a moment-by-moment rendering of the horrific October 7 assault. 

Footage from #NOVA film was taken from phones of the survivors and bodycams of the terrorists (Photo: Yes TV/Kastina Communications)[Missing Credit]

Director Dan Pe’er and producer Meny Aviram joined Kalash for a Q&A following the screening. 

Kalash said her videos, taken from the bush where she and a friend hid from terrorist gunfire for eight hours, captured the moments when she “started to lose hope”.

“It was a moment when I realised, maybe I need to say goodbye – that’s why I took the video in the first place.”

Pe’er said he would have liked #NOVA, which was released for international audience on December 23, to have been shown in London earlier, especially because London is “one of the biggest cities with mass pro-Palestinian demonstrations”.

An abandoned suitcase from the site of the Nova massacre on October 7[Missing Credit]

“A lot of the demonstrations are very anti-Israel, denouncing the right of Israel to exist; they are borderline antisemitic,” said Aviram. “I think showing the movie in London is very important and more screenings in London should happen.”

Prior to the screening, Pe’er, Aviram and Kalash wrote personal messages on padlocks to attach to the Lovelock Hostage Bridge, a recent installation at the entrance to JW3. The ritual was especially poignant for the filmmakers and the Nova survivor, who placed their padlocks close to those bearing the names of friends still held hostage in Gaza.

According to a spokesperson from JW3, several volunteer mental health practitioners were on site in case audience members needed support after viewing the disturbing footage.