New documentaries mourn all that was lost on October 7

As Israelis mark the third anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack with ceremonies and events, local TV channels will show documentaries about the people and places hardest hit on that day.

“Where Do We Belong,” about a group of young women from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, will premiere on HOT Channel 8 on October 5, telling the personal stories of kibbutz friends after the onslaught.

Director Dotan Nave and producer Igal Hecht spend an hour and 40 minutes describing the 10 women who met as they fell in love with men who grew up on the kibbutz, and ended up moving there.

There’s plenty of black humor and honesty as the women gather over the course of the film, while living as evacuees on Kibbutz Shefayim in the country’s center and as the kibbutz community moves to Kibbutz Ruhama, in the south.

The women discuss painful losses, indecision regarding whether or not to return to Kfar Aza, and the eternal question of whether they’ll ever return to who they were before October 7.

“Where Do We Belong,” Hot 8, October 5, 7:30 p.m.

In Israel, “Where Do We Belong” will screen at Cinematheques Haifa and Holon on October 5; Cinematheque Tel Aviv on October 8; Cinematheque Rosh Pina and HaUlam in Pardes Hanna on October 9.

The film will also be screened on October 7 in Toronto at the Toronto Zionist Council and October 8 at the Vancouver Jewish Film Festival.

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Hilla Medalia produced the 80-minute documentary “Find Me, Okay?” being shown on Reshet 13 on October 5 about hostage Eden Yerushalmi, who was killed in captivity in August 2024.

This portrait of a family’s love and grief was directed by Yula Gidron and follows Yerushalmi and her best friend Arbel at the Nova desert rave, Yerushalmi’s subsequent abduction, and the struggle of her mother, two sisters, and Arbel as they fought for her return.

The final parts of the film view the family’s grief after Yerushalmi, alongside Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Carmel Gat, Almog Sarusi, Ori Danino and Alex Lubanov, were killed by their Hamas captors, and how they manage their deep bereavement.

The film won the GWFF award for Best Israeli Debut Feature at the Jerusalem Film Festival in July, awarded by the German society dedicated to safeguarding film and television rights.

“Find Me, Okay?” will be screened on Reshet 13, October 5, 9:15 p.m.

Tank commander and artist Matan Sacofsky’s “Good Morning Gaza” offers a rare glimpse into the inner lives of soldiers in the traumatic aftermath of October 7 and the war in Gaza, through a tank unit’s unlikely podcast.

The 52-minute documentary is available on Yes VOD; there are also screenings of the film taking place throughout the country at select theaters.

Filmmaker Gregory Bado offers a gentle, roundabout introduction to one former hostage, Yelena Trufanov, with his short, 15-minute film, “Choo-Cha,” about her relationship with the cats at Kibbutz Nir Oz.

He takes viewers to the kibbutz, where Trufanov lived with her husband, Vitaly, who was murdered on October 7, as Trufanov, her mother Irena, her son Sasha Trufanov and his girlfriend Sapir Cohen were all taken hostage.

Trufanov moved to Ramat Gan after her November 2023 release from captivity, but she returned to Nir Oz three times a week, by bus, to feed the dozens of cats left behind after their owners were murdered or left the kibbutz.

Bado documented Trufanov for about two years, through the return of Sasha, her son, from captivity in February 2025.

An expanded version of “Choo-Cha” is in progress.