Nova (film)

On 7 October 2023, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian nationalist political organization Hamas, initiated a sudden attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip. As part of the attack, 364 individuals, mostly civilians, were murdered and many more wounded at the Supernova Sukkot Gathering, an open-air music festival during the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret near kibbutz Re'im. Hamas also took 40 people hostage, and men and women were reportedly subject to sexual and gender-based violence.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]}

The documentary chronicles the October 7 attacks on the Supernova music festival near the Gaza border.

It relies on raw, real‑time footage collected from festival goers in the immediate aftermath of the attack. Pe’er, who was involved in volunteer efforts to assist survivors, compiled video and audio materials into a chronological narrative before developing the project with Yes TV. The film avoids commentary or retrospective interviews, instead focusing on the visceral emotions and chaos experienced by participants.^[8]

Director Dan Pe’er conceived Nova in the immediate aftermath of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on the Supernova music festival. While volunteering to assist survivors and families of missing persons, Pe’er began collecting video and audio clips shared on social media and by attendees. He initially used these materials to create identification profiles for missing individuals, but soon realised their potential to form a chronological account of the massacre.^[9]

Pe’er assembled a team of volunteers and established a makeshift “war room” to gather and catalogue thousands of recordings, including footage captured by festival goers and by Hamas militants themselves.^[9] The director later partnered with Kastina Communications to formalise the project, producing the documentary for Yes Docu, the documentary arm of the Israeli satellite broadcaster Yes Studios.^[8]

The film was completed in less than two months, reflecting both the urgency of the subject matter and Pe’er’s determination to preserve the raw immediacy of the events.^[9]