Surviving Nova

The deadly attack on Israeli citizens unleashed by Hamas on October 7, 2023, led to a brutal siege of the Palestinian territory of Gaza that has captured the world’s attention—and stirred global passions—ever since. But in Surviving Nova, VICE News returns to the precipitating tragedy itself, with a gripping account of the raid on the all-night Nova musical festival in southwestern Israel. Mixing never-seen smartphone footage with archival news accounts and eyewitness testimony, director Gilal Thayer and his team recreate the infamous events that resulted in 1,200 deaths and more than 200 people being taken hostage, all from the point of view of the victims on the ground. Minute by minute, viewers experience the surreal shift from drug-fueled revelry, to confusion, to mayhem, then to utter panic and fight for survival. Through sensitive, in-depth interviews, the filmmakers also lay bare the tangle of emotions that have haunted survivors and first responders in the wake of that October: anguish for the dead; desperate hope for the hostages; sharply varied opinions about the retaliation in Gaza; and fury at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government for not having foreseen the attack or moved more quickly to protect young people and the local population of peace-loving “kibbutzniks.” For creating an indelible documentary account of a day that shook the world and changed the course of history, “Surviving Nova” wins a Peabody Award.