We Will Dance Again, like other October 7 documentaries, is emotionally heavy viewing as survivors recount the Nova Festival massacre.

As the documentary launches in the U.S. on Paramount+, it is the first October 7 documentary to get a release on a U.S. streamer. Despite no shortage of campaigns across Jewish social media, neither #NOVA or Supernova: The Music Festival Massacre have been able to secure a release through a U.S. streaming service. This is certainly a shanda. I’ve been told that some streamers consider the documentaries to be “too political.” I’m sorry but Israeli and Jewish lives are NOT political. Meanwhile, Sheryl Sandberg’s Screams Before Silence bypassed the streamers by launching directly on YouTube. All of the documentaries feature graphic violence and are not easy to watch. However traumatic and emotionally heavy that they are in viewing, they are all essential viewing in making sure we never forget what happened on October 7. That being said, this one features the longest run time at 1:32 in length.

The Nova Music Festival should have been a celebration. Unfortunately, it will forever go down in history as one of the worst terrorist attacks in Israeli history. We Will Dance Again features multiple survivors from the attack as they tell their story of survival. Filmmakers weave the personal accounts with the footage taken by survivors, victims and Hamas terrorists on October 7. A number of survivors speak English but there are a few talking exclusively in Hebrew. Subtitles are provided. One of the smartest decisions that many people made that day was deciding to film on their phones. To say that the cell phone footage became vital is not an understatement. It helps give us an understanding of how things played out that day.

Images and video of people dancing and having fun would soon turn into terror at 6:29 AM. This is when it became apparent that something was happening along the Gaza envelope. The border fence was breached in 60 different locations as Hamas terrorists made their way to the festival site and kibbutzim along the border between Israel and Gaza. As they made their way towards the festival site from the north and south, festival attendees had nowhere to go. Neither bomb shelters or IDF bases were safe. Making matters worse is that nobody was answering the call for help. Not the IDF, not the police. NOBODY. Listening to Tamir’s call the police only makes me want to cry. The police finally arrived after six hours at 12:30 PM; the IDF came two hours later. But by then, it was too late as Hamas killed many Israelis, taking over 200 hostage.

The body camera footage is among the heaviest viewing of all. I’m not lying when I say that I have to pause multiple times while watching the October 7 documentaries. I paused halfway through on what will probably be my only viewing of this essential documentary. While a good amount of body camera footage is similar between the various documentaries, what ultimately sets the films apart is how the filmmakers approach their storytelling. Are they interviewing the same survivors or are they interviewing different people? Even if the docs feature some of the same people, it is still very important to hear what they have to say. One person that also keeps coming up in the many docs is the late Hersh Goldberg-Polin because of being in the same bomb shelter as other survivors. In a just world, Hersh would be alive right now.

There were 3,500 people in attendance at the Nova Music Festival on October 7. Hamas murdered 364 attendees while taking another 44 hostage. While some were released during the November ceasefire, others have been executed by Hamas terrorists. Many more were wounded and are in therapy. Unfortunately, some Nova survivors made the decision to take their own life. Time is running out to bring them home.

Like the other October 7 documentaries, We Will Dance Again is essential viewing. We must continue to hear from survivors and hostage families so that we can ensure that never again truly becomes never again.

DIRECTOR: Yariv Mozer

Paramount+ will release We Will Dance Again on September 24, 2024. Grade: 5/5

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