''Screams Before Silence'' is a documentary film led by American businesswoman

Sheryl Sandberg Sheryl Kara Sandberg (born August 28, 1969) is an American business executive, billionaire, and philanthropist. Sandberg served as chief operating officer (COO) of Meta Platforms, a position from which she stepped down in August 2022. She is als ...

, that explores the sexual violence by Hamas during the

Hamas-led attack on Israel On 7 October 2023, the paramilitary wings of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the PFLP, and the DFLP launched a series of coordinated armed incursions into the Gaza envelope of neighboring Israeli territory, the first invasion of Israel s ...

, on 7 October 2023, including events at the massacre at the Nova Festival and abductions to the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza. ...

. The film was released for free on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

on 26 April 2024. Sandberg has described the film as the most important work of her life. In 2024, it was nominated in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

for an

Ophir Award The Ophir Awards ( he, פרס אופיר), colloquially known as the Israeli Oscars or the Israeli Academy Awards, are film awards for excellence in the Israeli film industry awarded by the Israeli Academy of Film and Television. The award, name ...

for Best Short Documentary.

Production

99902 the kidnapped square PikiWiki Israel

The film was directed by Anat Stalinsky with

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the c ...

Sasha Gavrikov and led by Sheryl Sandberg. Shooting took place in February 2024. One of the participants in the film is Amit Soussana who was abducted to Gaza and freed in the hostage release deal in November 2023. She described the

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, whi ...

she experienced while being held by

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...

. Additionally, the film includes testimonies by members of

ZAKA ZAKA ( he, זק"א, abbreviation for ''Zihuy Korbanot Ason'', , literally: "Disaster Victim Identification") is a series of voluntary community emergency response teams in Israel, each operating in a police district (two in the Central Dist ...

and other witnesses about

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

and sexual assaults during the massacre at the Nova Festival and in other places in

where the attack took place.

Release

On 5 May 2024, the film was aired in Israel on various channels, including

HOT Hot or the acronym HOT may refer to: Food and drink *Pungency, in food, a spicy or hot quality *Hot, a Wine tasting descriptors#D–H, wine tasting descriptor Places *Hot district, a district of Chiang Mai province, Thailand **Hot subdistrict, ...

yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...

, Cellcom and

Partner Partner, Partners, The Partner, or, The Partners may refer to: Books * ''The Partner'' (Grisham novel), by John Grisham, 1997 * ''The Partner'' (Jenaro Prieto novel), 1928 * ''The Partners'' (book), a 1983 book by James B. Stewart * ''Partner'' (m ...

. The film was screened in the U.S. capitol for American lawmakers and at the White House.

Reception

Bret Stephens Bret Louis Stephens (born November 21, 1973) is an American conservative journalist, editor, and columnist. He began working as an opinion columnist for ''The New York Times'' in April 2017 and as a senior contributor to NBC News in June 2017. ...

wrote about the film in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', arguing that it is impactful: "To watch ''Screams Before Silence'' is to be disabused of any lingering doubts about what Hamas did. The personal testimonies of victims, survivors and witnesses are clear and overpowering, as is the photographic evidence Sandberg was shown of mutilated corpses. And some of them have scarcely been heard about outside Israel."

Briahna Joy Gray Briahna Joy Gray (born August 15, 1985) is an American political commentator, lawyer, and political consultant who served as the National Press Secretary for the Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign. Gray is a contributing editor for ''Curr ...

criticized the film, opining that it relies on "debunked" reporting such as the ''New York Times''' "

Screams Without Words In December 2023, a ''New York Times'' investigation titled "Screams Without Words': How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on Oct. 7" described rape and sexual violence during the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, referring to such violence as ha ...

" article.

Ryan Grim Ryan W. Grim (born March 23, 1978) is an American author and journalist. Grim was Washington, D.C. bureau chief for ''HuffPost'' and is the Washington, D.C. bureau chief for ''The Intercept.'' He is also a political commentator for ''Breaking Po ...

criticized the film's reliance on coerced interrogation videos and cast doubt on the evidence and conclusions in the documentary. ''

TheWrap ''TheWrap'' is an American online news website covering the business of entertainment and media via digital, print and live events. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman in 2009. Awards ''TheWrap'' has won awards for its journalism, incl ...

'' film critic Elizabeth Weitzman called the film hard to watch and that it needed a

trigger warning A trauma trigger is a psychological stimulus that prompts involuntary recall of a previous traumatic experience. The stimulus itself need not be frightening or traumatic and may be only indirectly or superficially reminiscent of an earlier traum ...

, but praised the "immensely powerful job" done by the director in telling the story of

October 7 Events Pre-1600 * 3761 BC – The epoch reference date (start) of the modern Hebrew calendar. *1403 – Venetian–Genoese wars: The Genoese fleet under a French admiral is defeated by a Venetian fleet at the Battle of Modon. *1477 &n ...

. In June 2024, president-elect,

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

urged people to see the film, writing on social media that it is "...incredibly difficult to watch because, sadly, it graphically portrays the Death and Destruction that Hamas has unleashed." In August 2024, the film was nominated for Best Short Documentary at Israel's

Ophir Awards The Ophir Awards ( he, פרס אופיר), colloquially known as the Israeli Oscars or the Israeli Academy Awards, are film awards for excellence in the Israeli film industry awarded by the Israeli Academy of Film and Television. The award, named ...

.Brown, Hannah (15 August 2024)
Wartime films get Ophir Award nominations
''The Jerusalem Post''. Retrieved on 21 January 2025Steinberg, Jessica (17 August 2024)
Nominated films for Ophir prize include short docs dealing with October 7 atrocities
''The Times of Israel''. Retrieved on 21 January 2025

References

External links

* * Shani Littman
'We're Dealing With a Sexual Shoah as It's Happening'

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner ...

, May 6, 2024 * {{War crimes 2024 films 2024 documentary films 2023 Hamas attack on Israel Israel–Hamas war hostage crisis Israeli documentary films Documentary films about jihadism Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine Documentary films about rape Documentary films about women in war Palestinian political violence War crimes

Production

Release

Reception

See also

References

External links