The movie “Screams and then Silence” makes Amit Sosna the heroine of Israel

It is customary to count this war in days. The most massive, the most dynamic. But maybe it’s time to count it in months – and remember, for example, that Ototo starts the eighth month. It will be followed by the ninth month, and you know what happens in the ninth month.

It’s hard to get this figure out of your head when watching “Screams Before Silence” (“Screams Before Silence”), which is available starting today (Friday) on YouTube. The traumas experienced by the victims of October 7 are terrible and unimaginable, but at least there is no stopwatch over them. Above the young abductees, who knows what happened to them that day and in the 200 days that followed, there are actually. Although in any war there is unbearably difficult uncertainty involved, there have never been such uncertainties here. And what is certain is that it is impossible to remain indifferent to the 60 minutes of the film directed by Anat Stalinsky (“Wedding at First Sight”, “Sovietska”). At least if you have a heart.

“Screams and Silence” is one of the most talked about documentary products filmed since October 7, but it is not intended for Israel at all. It was completely adjusted to the foreign audience, including the use of English and the reconstruction of the events of the day, which every Israeli already knows very well what happened there. And instead of knocking on the doors of Netflix, the BBC and others, the Castina production company decided to give up on the commercial aspect in advance – and upload it for free viewing on YouTube for anyone who wants it around the world. This is the second time they have taken this action in the company, after distributing the shocking docu “NOVA#” for free. Because this is not the time for commercial moves, this is the time to write the history books.

Sheryl Sandberg – a Jewish-American businesswoman and former Facebook executive – was chosen to lead “Screams and then Silence”. The average Israeli can be moved by her mobilization, which included a visit to Israel for the sake of filming, and rightly so, but in the global test it is actually an unusual choice: apart from the many and well-known allegations against Facebook and Sandberg, regarding massacre events that are broadcast live, she herself is not considered a particularly popular figure in the all-American aspect. In the end, this is another white, seven-year-old billionaire, not exactly the kind of presenter who will arouse empathy among the campus protesters in the US. But an hour later, when Sandberg defines the film as “the most important work I’ve done” and explains that “my whole life has led me to this moment”, it’s hard not to believe her .

From the moment he finishes summarizing the stories and events chosen to be included in it, “Screams and then Silence” turns to its main reason for existence: collecting evidence – mostly from sight and hearing, sometimes firsthand – of the acts of rape and sexual assault committed by Hamas terrorists on and after October 7. This is the most sensitive topic of all in an event full of such, and unfortunately it has accumulated both deniers and people who spread unverified and even false information (not least because of the company that Sandberg continues to represent at the moment). Amit Sosna tells there, for the first time in front of the cameras, about the sexual abuse she suffered in captivity. Agam Goldstein-Almog presents the evidence she was exposed to from other abductions. Dr. Ayelet Levy-Shahar is forced to recreate the fart-inducing kidnapping video of her daughter Naama, and she is joined by Nova survivors, volunteers and experts, including Israel Prize winner Kochav Elkayam-Levi, who, in light of the question marks that have recently appeared around her work, receives minimal screen time.

Some of the evidence is far from forensic, but still unmistakable. “I know how it sounds, I understand how it sounds,” explains one of the Nova survivors, who understands very well that there is only one reason why you would hear a young woman scream at the same intensity for 15 to 20 minutes until she is shot to death. And in the moments when it is tempting to go into details, the interviewees are often reluctant, gathering within themselves. It is understandable and reasonable. Sandberg, for her part, understands her role in the force and does not hesitate to bury her hands in the most horrific mud. She asks again, trying to extract some additional piece of information, and mostly realizing that this is the only way it will be possible to shock those who need it around the world. If this is even possible.

And as the movie promises, after the screams comes the silence. One of the most intense phases of the docu comes when the ZAKA volunteers present Sandberg with the horrific images from the field, and describe what they saw there. These are short and quick moments that make you go crazy in front of them – “One second, what? Let it breathe. And one more? And one more? What does ‘the body with the nails’ mean?”. And that’s exactly the goal. A horrible but necessary viewing experience, one that you can’t keep quiet about.

But there is no doubt that the bulk of his journalistic achievements owe “Screams and then silence” to Sosna. After already revealing the sexual abuse she suffered in an interview with the New York Times, she also tells here – in English, at eye level, with a confidence that leaves no room for doubt – what she went through during the weeks she spent in Gaza. And although it really doesn’t interest her, the thought creeps into her head how the state will be able to compensate her for such a trauma. Light a beacon, get a reward? These are small tributes to one of Israel’s greatest heroines of the war. Heroism that began with the physical fight against the terrorists on the day of the kidnapping, continued with the efforts to avoid contact with her captors at all costs, and reached its peak with the decision to speak on behalf of those who cannot yet speak. And maybe they will never be able to. All that remains is to bow to such a brave woman who went through such difficult things, and hope that her testimony will succeed in moving something in public opinion. Because Amit Sosna is a real superhero, a superhero that we just don’t deserve.

Did you find a language mistake?