February 21, 2024
By as published in KYW Newsradio
A massacre at an Israeli music festival is now the subject of a documentary that will screen at two locations in Philadelphia this week.
Supernova Sukkot Gathering was supposed to be a weekend-long outdoor trance music festival in Re’im Israel. But the event was marred on Oct. 7, when the terror group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing nearly 1,200 people. More than 240 people were taken hostage, with 134 still in captivity in Gaza.
Matthew Bussy, program director of Philadelphia Jewish Film and Media, says the documentary film “Supernova” uses real footage from the attack, along with survivor testimonies.
“It’s a mix of cellphone footage that was taken by the survivors. It’s footage that was taken by Hamas. It’s also CCTV footage,” Bussy explained. “There are a lot of TikTok videos that survivors took and posted to their own accounts. So everything that you see is 100% real.”
As Bussy describes, the 51-minute documentary presents its gathered footage in a matter-of-fact style. “They just want to tell people what happened on that day,” he said of the filmmakers.
“They don’t want to exaggerate anything. They don’t want to make a statement, they just really want to show you what happened, because it was a horribly, unfortunately historical day that we must never forget about.”
To that effect, Bussy says the film depicts the full extent of Hamas’ cruelty on Oct. 7. “They actually followed these people outside of the concert and they followed them into bomb shelters, and they followed them, chased them in cars and shot at them from their cars and, you know, chased them across the fields,” Bussy said.
“These people had to hide in trees and hide wherever they could, and that’s something that I feel like people probably don’t know as well. They don’t really understand the scope of how horrific this crime was.”
There will be two showings of “Supernova” on Thursday, Feb. 22 — one at the University of Pennsylvania at 4:30 p.m. and the other at 7 p.m. at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Old City. Bussy says the film is important because he’s often approached with questions from people who don’t know what happened or that the events of Oct. 7 prompted the current war.
“‘So what actually happened? Can you tell me what happened? I’m just confused. What is that? You know, I’m just reading a lot of things,’” he said of the questions he receives. “So, I mean, that’s a problem.”
“Supernova” directors Yossi Bloch and Duki Dror will be available for a question and answer session at both screenings. Millet Ben Haim, a survivor of the massacre, will also be at Penn to tell their story.