Page 111 - October 7 - Teresa Pirola

were sexually abused, tortured, slaughtered and mutilated, especially at the site of the Nova music festival. However, Screams Before Silence is no ‘horror film’ of gruesome pictures, nor a demonisation of Palestinians. It is a sensitively delivered piece of storytelling and truth-telling that showcases not only the depravity of which human beings are capable, but also examples of extraordinary courage and human resilience.
Relying largely on a series of interviews by Sheryl Sandberg and video footage from October 7, the film draws the viewer into the violent world of the massacre without plunging into a sea of traumatising images. Apart from the people speaking, most of the footage shows destroyed homes and cars, not dead bodies. Occasional images of a corpse are fleeting and have been deliberately blurred. The film carefully leads the viewer down into the depths of its dark subject matter before moving upwards towards the ‘light’ (if one may call it that) of an ending that strikes a note of resilience, purpose and empowerment.
Screams Before Silence places front and centre what should be an uncontroversial message: that weaponisation of rape and sexual violence is never acceptable, can never be excused by a larger political ‘context’, and must be condemned forthrightly by every decent human being and treated as criminal conduct without prevarication.
What makes this film especially relevant is that the crimes of October 7 are not over. Some 129 hostages remain in Gaza, including women and children. From the testimony of released hostages we know that there is good reason to fear that sexual abuse of those who remain behind continues. ‘Bring Them Home Now!’ should be on the lips of every vocal feminist protesting violence against women.
It is not wise for all people to see this film. Protection of one’s mental health must be a priority. However, I urge those
111