New Oct. 7th Documentary ‘The Killing Roads’ Sheds Light on Atrocities
A new film entitled ‘The Killing Road’ debuted on October 1st. The film, which was released almost exactly one year after the terrorist attacks of October 7th, is a documentary by Igal Hecht that showcases the horrors of these attacks while featuring heartbreaking testimonials from survivors and witnesses.
Igal Hecht is a seasoned documentary filmmaker. His company, Chutzpah Productions, is celebrating its 25th year anniversary this year. Igal has been involved in making more than 50 documentaries, and edited over 70 which aired on a variety of platforms such as Netflix, BBC, CBC.
RAISON D’ETRE:
After learning of the October 7th terrorist attacks, Igal said that he immediately “knew that I wanted to make a project about October 7th.” However, he was also aware that he was certainly not the only filmmaker who wanted to do that, and he experienced the frustration that there were many filmmakers already in Israel while he was stuck in Canada. He said there were many challenges to get to Israel since the flights were cancelled in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks.
Initially, Igal actually began working not on The Killing Road but on another film that’s coming out next year. It’s a film about a group of women from Kibbutz Kfar Aza who survived the massacre of October 7. He is producing and editing it with Israeli director Dotan Naveh.
Anyway, throughout the months right after the war began Igal continued to watch all the new footage coming out. He said, “I consumed every video that was released by either Israeli authorities, by people who had access to the Hamas GoPro footage, by terrorists, Hamas, or Islamic Jihad sources on Telegram, et cetera, et cetera– So, there pretty much isn’t a video that came out that I haven’t seen.”
Of all these videos, Igal said there was one that really resonated with him, helping spur the creation of this documentary. He described it vividly:
“one of the videos that really kind of struck me was a group of terrorists running down Road 232 after a jeep they just shot and executing the people, making sure that they’re dead. You know, it wasn’t enough to just shoot people. They went above and beyond and executed people just shot the dead bodies, riddled them with bullets nonstop.”
For Igal, watching that video was the spark to create a little social media video called “The Killing Road.” The roughly 30-second video emphasized how people were murdered on this road. That got him thinking about how many other stories there must be.
Furthermore, Igal reckoned that the focus of the media had rightfully been on the atrocities committed at the Nova Festival, in the Kibbutzim, and in cities like Sderot and Ofakim, where large numbers of people were killed and injured. Nevertheless, he felt that the roads were sort of left behind in the media coverage of October 7th.
Igal pointed out the callous nature of the attacks against innocent civilians who were going about their weekend just as many Canadians do. He said, “People were just randomly murdered, you know, people who were just out for a bike ride, people who were just out for a run. It was a beautiful Saturday, right? So, imagine what would you do on a beautiful Saturday in Winnipeg if you woke up early?” It was a poignant thought, highlighting the immense privilege to live in a country like Canada, which has, relatively, been untouched by terrorist attacks.
FUNDING & ORGANIZING:
So, Igal determined to make a feature length film about the terrorist attacks on the roads. It took a few months to get the required funds together.
Igal informed me that unfortunately he could not secure funding despite his decades-long career making films and documentaries. He tried to get various unnamed media groups in Canada to finance the project, but none were willing. So he invested his own money into the project.
Then he encountered delays getting to Israel as airports were shut down and flights repeatedly cancelled because of the ongoing war in Gaza.
These were only the first set of hurdles. Once in Israel, Igal was faced with the difficult challenge of actually producing the documentary while a war was raging around him. Moreover, collecting the hundreds of eye-witness testimonials and stories of victims could take hundreds, if not thousands, of man-hours. Admittedly, it was not a task Igal could handle alone.
FILM PRODUCTION:
To aid Igal in his mission, he created a small team of three people (including himself) to help make the film.
He enlisted the recurring help of his longtime cameraman, Lior Cohen, who is also the cinematographer of the documentary.
In addition, Igal got Einat Levine to be the production manager and researcher for the project, lauding her as “an amazing researcher, working with the top broadcasters from all around the world.”
Einat helped conduct dozens of interviews with survivors, with the film ultimately utilizing over 20 to help craft the documentary.
One interview of particular importance was conducted with Moshe Weizmann, who is an United Hatzalah Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). Moshe was the first EMT to reach the Nova Festival. As a result, his insights and recollections are invaluable first hand evidence of the horrors committed on Oct. 7th.
FILM’s RELEASE:
The film came out on October 1st. From the beginning, Igal made the important decision to release the documentary for free online. You can stream the film from thekillingroads.com, Twitter, and YouTube.
Igal said he was happy to organize screenings to “anyone who wants to see the film, –any organization, any synagogue, church, or mosque.” He just wants to spread the message of the film, saying, “the only reason I made it (the film) is so people can get the truth out there.”
There was a screening in Winnipeg on October 8th, as well as screenings in Vancouver and Toronto.
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This article was originally published in print by the Jewish Post.