October 8 is not about the day Hamas stormed into Israeli homes, but what happened the next day — when antisemitic protests broke out across the U.S. before the bodies in Israel were even buried.
Directed by Wendy Sachs and executive produced by actress Debra Messing, the film opened in Israel at a time when Jewish audiences are still reeling from October 7 — and looking for answers.
‘OCTOBER 8’
From Times Square to the Ivy League, the film shows how anti-Israel sentiment exploded on American streets and campuses, with student groups blaming Israel for the attacks and professors praising the massacre.
But October 8 goes deeper. It traces how Hamas built support in the West over decades — infiltrating campuses, media outlets, and cultural institutions. It exposes how foreign actors like Iran, China, and Russia have amplified online disinformation, sowing chaos and division in American society.
Interviewees include Sheryl Sandberg, Congressman Ritchie Torres, Noa Tishby, Michael Rapaport, and Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of a Hamas founder turned peace advocate. Their voices are emotional, urgent, and deeply personal.
“Adapting the concept of Intifada — violence will follow,” said Hassan Yousef in the trailer.
Jerusalemite Laura Cornfield saw the film on Sunday.
“The film terrified me,” Cornfield, who serves as director of MediaCentral, told ILTV. “Even as someone who works in the media, I was shocked by the depth of antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment that was shown all across campuses in the United States.”
The film is also a warning — that Hamas’s war isn’t just being fought with rockets and rifles, but with narratives. And those narratives have consequences.
“What does it mean that the future leaders of the most important democracy in the world are chanting for Intifada,” journalist Bari Weiss asks in a soundbite in the trailer.
October 8 is more than a documentary. It’s a wake-up call.