FEATURED DOCUMENTARY

October 8

OCTOBER 8 is a feature documentary about the explosion of antisemitism on college campuses, on social media, and in the streets of America in the aftermath of Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. 

The film was directed, written and executive produced by Wendy Sachs. Debra Messing, the actress and activist, appeared in the film and also served as an executive producer, and Nimrod Erez worked as a producer, writer and editor.

OCTOBER 8, which became Academy Award eligible, opened on 137 screens across America in March 2024 becoming #1 at the box office for its first three weeks in theaters. Hailed as “the most important documentary of the year,” the film stayed in theaters for four weeks, exceeding expectations at the box office and securing distribution deals around the world including in Latin America, Australia, Germany, Canada, Greece and Israel. 

The film included interviews from: US Rep. Ritchie Torres, US Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Debra Messing, Sheryl Sandberg, Dan Senor, Scott Galloway, Mosab Yousef (son of Hamas’s co-founder) Einat Wilf, Hillel Neurer, Douglas Murray, Bari Weiss, Michael Rapaport, US Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, Tesa Veksler, Talia Khan, Shai Davidai, Jonathan Schanzer and others.

The film has had a tremendous reception in the States and around the world with both Jewish but more importantly, non-Jewish and high profile, influential audiences. We’ve held screenings for members of the US Congress, members of parliament in Australia, and members of parliament in the Netherlands, as well as the deputy prime minister. We’ve also screened with government officials in Mexico City, London, Montreal, Toronto, Tel Aviv, Melbourne, Jerusalem and Berlin.

Sharing October 8 with university presidents, administrators and faculty has also been a priority for us. We’ve traveled around the world holding small screenings and having tough but important conversations with university officials from deans to the directors of DEI. Within months of its release, October 8 has also been screened on dozens of university campuses in the United States and around the world, with more lined up for the fall. 

Beginning in September, we will also be screening in Scotland, England, Germany, South Africa and Belgium to a mix of audiences including members of the European Union, academics and the Jewish and non Jewish communities. 

October 8 has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times, in theaters and on video on demand platforms including Amazon Prime, Apple TV and YouTube and its impact is worldwide. 

Directed by
Wendy Sachs

Starring
Debra Messing

Michael Rapaport
Congressman Ritchie Torres
Mosab Hassan Yousef

Sheryl Sandberg

Scott Galloway

Bari Weiss

Dan Senor

Noa Tishby