It’s a hard to believe it is approaching a year since the events of October 7, which were to rock all of our worlds with their repercussions continuing to reverberate.
Media organisations all over the globe have been planning how they are going to commemorate the Simchat Torah massacre and the ensuing war, the BBC among them. What will make it so different for our national broadcaster compared to the others will be the intense scrutiny it will come under. It is fair to say the Beeb has not had a great war.
From the start there have been horrendous mistakes, such as when wide-eyed veteran reporters eagerly agreed that Israel had bombed the Al-Ahli hospital, killing 500 people, when it hadn’t. Last month more than 200 Jewish people from the TV and film industry signed a letter to the BBC board calling for an urgent investigation into what it called “systemic problems of antisemitism and bias”, while several employees have been called out or even fired for posting explicitly antisemitic tweets.
On the other side of the equation, Muslim, Arab and Palestinian employees have accused the corporation of failing to humanise Palestinians.
The BBC will be showing two films to commemorate the one-year anniversary. I’m told that at one point the plan was to screen the Israel one on October 7 and the Gaza one a day later – thankfully that idea was jettisoned pretty quickly, with the Israel one now due to screen at the end of September and the Gaza one likely to be shown further into October.
The October 7 film, made by Israeli director Yariv Mozer and produced by the BBC’s Storyville, Fulwell 73 and MGM among others, is aimed at an international market. It will focus on Nova and is called Surviving October 7: We Will Dance Again. It had its premiere in Israel last month, with many of the Nova survivors who feature in it in attendance.
October 7 was the most documented massacre in history with the actions of the perpetrators from Hamas and Islamic Jihad filmed by themselves and by their victims. The film takes us inside the story of several of the young people at Nova as they gradually begin to realise what is happening to them – their footage is interspersed with scenes captured by Hamas cameras showing the terrorists gleefully mowing down anyone around them.
There will be a premiere in London but, as with almost all of these types of events, the venue will be kept secret until the last minute.
The Gaza film has been made by BBC Arabic and will also focus on the stories of a few people as they try to deal with Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks. It is presently titled Life and Death in Gaza, although this may be changed. This film is also likely to have a London screening.
Teams from both sides of the conflict will be watching with interest. I wish someone would make a film about Hamas and its aims – this seems to be a much under-explored subject when you consider how much time has been spent exploring the war it started.
Michael Aloni Photo: Getty
Shtisel and The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem heart-throb Michael Aloni will make his London stage debut later this month in new play Here in America. Aloni stars as Arthur Miller in a drama about the playwright’s row with director Elia Kazan during the McCarthy era, which prompted him to write The Crucible.
Pertinent: a scene from the hit Regent's Park Production
Like many of you, I loved Fiddler on the Roof at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre – the story has never felt more relevant.
The fiddler of the title is there because, as Tevye says, he is ‘trying to scratch out a pleasant, simple tune without breaking his neck’ and ‘we stay because Anatevka is our home’, which feels very pertinent given the constantly precarious position Israel is in.
Claudia Winkleman in The Traitors Photo: Mark Mainz
Good news for fans of Claudia Winkleman and The Traitors (me and me!). A celebrity version of the show is set to be filmed. Should be delicious.
Josh Malina Photo: Getty
The West Wing and The Big Bang Theory’s Joshua Malina is due in London next month to star in What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank, directed by Patrick Marber. Should be a good one.
