Yom HaZikaron is Israel's remembrance day. Held one day before the celebration of Israel's independence, the day honors fallen soldiers and victims of actions of terrorism. With Israel being targeted by terrorists in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, and Iran and 133 hostages still being held in Gaza, this year's commemoration has even greater significance and meaning.
After the commemoration ceremony, led by our Shlicha Maya Skurnik, we will view the 50-minute documentary #Nova. The film is a collage of videos taken by festival survivors and victims as well as HAMAS terrorists, pieced together chronologically with no outside commentary. The raw documentary reveals in an unmediated way the horrifying events of October 7th. Maya will also share her sister's story of survival from the Nova festival and the trauma her family experienced. (Note: Viewers will hear gunshots in the documentary. Bodies of the deceased are blurred, out of respect to the deceased and their families.)
The Nova tribe, a community of over 10,000 psychedelic trance music enthusiasts, has in recent years, gathered together for an annual outdoor festival.
This year's event, held on October 7th in southern Israel, close to the border with Gaza, ended in a devastating tragedy, with the cold-blooded massacre of over 300 partygoers and the abduction of another 40.
During the days following the event, director Dan Pe'er, who was engaged in volunteer efforts to aid survivors, started receiving video and audio clips from survived festival goers.
#NOVA chronicles the harrowing atrocities minute by minute, merely through festival survivors’ camera footage, and terrorists' body camera recordings. With no outside intervention, the raw documentary reveals the true, bone-chilling atrocities of October 7th.
