Documentary film director Wendy Sachs was with his daughter Lexi at the University of Wisconsin-Madison when he first learned about the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023.
“Israel, images of babies and children, young people and grandparents being murdered. The murders were live streamed and placed on Facebook. Videos from the Nova Festival telegram, young people are taken hostage and lured to Gaza,” Sachs recalled to Fox News Digital.
But when she saw the surge in anti-Semitism on university campuses around the country the next day, she knew something had to be done.
“When I saw the protests at Times Square on October 8th, and the day after October 9th, I saw what was going on at Harvard, where over 30 students signed Israel. And then I saw the same thing happening from campus from Columbia, like NYU, Tulane, Mit, Cornell, Fell, Feelted. “Silence, fired, denial.”
“So, by the end of October, I knew I needed to document what was going on,” she added. “That's when I wrote the film treatment.”
The result was “October 8,” a documentary examining the unsettling rise of anti-Semitism against Jewish university students at our country's most elite university, and the disturbing and malicious forces driving this phenomenon.
Ice Arrest arrests anti-Israel activist who led anxiety for months on Columbia University campus
“October 8” examines the outbreak of anti-Semitism that is plaguing elite universities in the country. (Christopher L. Dalessandro)
Author and filmmaker Sachs, whose previous films include the film Surge and the book Fearless and Free: The Career of Smart Women Pivot and Realunch Rearunch, gave an October 7 interview with the film's survivors, college students, celebrities and politicians. Actress Debra Messing, Rep. Richie Torres (DN.Y.), and former Meta Ku Sheryl Sandberg help us deploy how many people are trying to deploy so many apparently educated young people who can go on the path to supporting terrorist group Hamas.
What Sachs found was a well-framed campaign to outlaw the Jewish state and denounce its supporters overseas.
In one of the film's most shocking revelations, he infiltrates the senior “Media, University and Research Centers” of “American Hamas Leader” and develops a strategy on how to adjust the language to make Hamas the most seasoning for the progressive American audience.
“Americans… we have to deal with them from a rights and justice standpoint, and at the same time we have to make good choices in our words,” the unidentified voice said in the recording.
According to Sachs, organizations such as the United Nations, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have accused Israel of committing “apartheid” and “genocide,” and have disrespected or silent about Hamas' atrocities. She said the silence from these groups drove her to make this film.
“In the weeks that continued on October 7th, there was silence from Hollywood, silence from women's rights groups, and from politicians I admire, I admire and support.
“It was just crazy and the fact that hypocrisy and double standards were happening when they came to Israel was that it was a Jewish woman who was raped, murdered and confused,” Sachs said.
Federal agencies considering a Columbia University contract grants after failing to protect Jewish students
Jewish students have felt they are under siege since the anti-Israel demonstrations began. (Jenna Moon/Getty Images)
The film highlighted several instances of anti-Semitism that occurred on university campuses. This required a mob of anti-Israeli activists who had to lock themselves up in libraries for protection.
Former UC Santa Barbara student body president Tessa Vexler was the subject of a torrent of abuse and was mostly recalled from her position for her support for Israel.
“I remember having to miss the final exam in person. Campus wasn't safe for me so I had to film all the exams online,” Veksler said in the film.
Sachs and other Jewish artists were applauded in Hollywood for silence after the attack on October 7th. Messing revealed that he had a hard time finding a signatory to the letter calling on the World Government to help bring hostages home.
“I felt completely betrayed by Hollywood,” Messing said in the film.
A scene from the warehouse of Kfar Chabad, Israel, on October 7th, after Hamas fired a rocket on the first anniversary of the terrorist attack that launched the war in Gaza. (Mostafa alkharouf/anadolu via Getty Images)
Producing the film was a difficult battle, Sachs confessed. She struggled to find a documentary distribution, and even after finding a distributor, she was unable to put “October 8” at major film festivals.
Sachs told Fox News Digital how film festivals like SXSW and Berlinale would not allow her documentaries to be featured, but would allow films about Palestinians.
“There's something really insidious going on in the independent film community,” she said.
“This is much bigger than the Jewish community. It's much bigger than the state of Israel. It's about all of us in America. It's about the West. It's about Islamic jihadism, extremism and democracy.
Sachs hopes her films will serve as an educational tool that schools can use in the K-12 curriculum to combat anti-Semitism.
“October 8” will be in the theater on Friday, March 14th.
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