‘World had lost its mind’: New documentary by NJ filmmaker explores rise in antisemitism

• The film focuses on rise in antisemitism on college campuses and the streets.

On Oct. 7, 2023, Wendy Sachs viewed her newsfeed in horror. She saw footage of Hamas fighters storming into Israel, where they killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 others.

"I was seeing videos of children and babies and grandparents being killed and abducted and taken into Gaza, it was all being livestreamed," she said.

"I felt gutted."

Then came the aftermath of that assault. As the residents of Israel were busy mourning and counting their dead, came an explosion of hate across college campuses, social media and the main streets of America, she said.

"On Oct. 8, I saw protests in Times Square, where Hamas was celebrated as freedom fighters rather than terrorists. Then a statement was signed by student organizations at Harvard (University) that placed the blame for the attack on Israel. Campus after college campus was erupting in protest against Israel," she said.

The social justice organizations and women's rights groups were suddenly silent when it came to this terrible injustice, she said.

To Sachs, 53, of South Orange, "It felt like the world had lost its mind."

The Emmy-award winning television news producer was determined to do something about it and turned to her camera. She conducted more than 80 interviews with people around the world and transformed the 170 hours of footage into a documentary film.

The product of her work, "October 8" distributed by Briarcliff Entertainment, premiered in theaters nationwide Friday and will run for a week. It will be available on several streaming platforms beginning in April.

Sachs is an author and filmmaker whose previous works include the film "Surge" and the book "Fearless and Free: How Smart Women Pivot and Relaunch their Careers."

But this project, she said, is by far the closest to her heart.

The film chronicles the shocking aftermath of the Hamas attack on Israel, she said, while exploring the eruption in hate nationwide and the response, or lack thereof, by organized groups, politicians and celebrities.

"This is about what modern-day antisemitism looks like and how anti-Zionism has really become the modern-day form of antisemitism. When you see signs like no Zionists allowed, that means no Jews allowed," said Sachs, who interviewed dozens of college students for the project.

The documentary features interviews with Oct. 7 survivors, college students, actress Debra Messing, comedian Michael Rapaport, Mosab Hassan Yousef, who is the son of Hamas' founder, former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg, Rep. Ritchie Torres and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. They all attempt to help viewers understand why so many well-educated people today seem to be celebrating Hamas, which has been deemed a terrorist organization by the State Department.

Noa Fay, a Barnard College student featured in the film, recalled how the protests erupted on Columbia University's campus on Oct. 12, while she was still grappling with the emotional trauma of the Hamas attack. "It was incredibly shocking to see my peers support the terrorist attack," she said. "I personally was starting to see a lot of tension in my own social circles."

Then it got more physical. Jewish students "had their star of David necklaces pulled from their necks, were shouted at for being visibly Jewish," Fay added.

The documentary also highlights a scene in which Russell Rickford, an associate professor of history at Cornell, spoke at a rally several days after the Hamas attack in which he described it as "exhilarating" and "energizing."

Sachs asserts that the film is not political. "We are not litigating the war," she said. And the film doesn't touch on issues pertaining to Israel's government or its border controversies. "This is about how did we get to this moment where Hamas is celebrated as being freedom fighters rather than as terrorists? It's about extremism versus democracy," she said.

Messing, who was an executive producer of the film and who has spoken out at rallies to free the hostages in Gaza, said she thought there would "be an army of activists" working to help free the hostages ... "and I felt really betrayed by Hollywood."

"This isn't just about Jews or Israel," said Sachs. "This is about all of us. So many people became blinded by their hate of Israel that they can't find sympathy for those who were murdered or kidnapped. What does that mean for American? For our humanity?"

The film is playing at Clifton Commons 16 in Clifton, East Hanover 12 in East Hanover, Monmouth Mall 15 in Eatontown, Freehold Metroplex 14 in Freehold, Mountainside 10 in Mountainside, Garden State 16 in Paramus, Marketfair in Princeton, Montgomery 6 in Rocky Hill, Washington Township 14 in Sewell and Teaneck Quad in Teaneck.