Northwestern Hillel and End Jew Hatred hosted a screening of “October 8” — a documentary exploring the surge of antisemitism on U.S. college campuses, social media and beyond since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel — Monday evening in Medill’s McCormick Foundation Center.
In an emotional compilation of interviews with about 40 people — including activists, authors, college students and university faculty — the documentary tells the story of Jewish and non-Jewish individuals within the past year.
In her opening remarks before the screening, documentary director and producer Wendy Sachs (Medill ’93) addressed the audience, noting the film’s success in getting major theater chains to screen the documentary — including AMC Theatres. Almost every seat was filled in the auditorium, which holds 197 people.
She also gave a content warning, stating the documentary includes graphic and emotionally intense material, including violence and distressing imagery.
“October 8” takes a chronological look at U.S. college scenes from Oct. 8, 2023 until today. It compiles footage acquired from public domains like Telegram, stories from survivors of the Oct. 7 attack, congressional testimonies of university presidents from Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania, and voices of targeted college students during last year’s protests.
“I think a lot of people, they’ve fallen into the propaganda believing that they’re on the right side of the issue,” Sachs said. “The terror community has been seeding on college campuses.”
Wendy Khabie, co-chair of Coalition Against Antisemitism at Northwestern, said as a parent of an NU student, she said she felt “very concerned” during last year’s protests.
She said she hopes to see improvements in the administration’s approach to tackling antisemitism.
“The film is a very scrupulous microscope to what’s been happening, taking apart incident by incident,” Khabie said. “University presidents put everything under this contextual framework. But it’s not contextual. Hate is not contextual.”
Surrounding the space outside the auditorium were several law enforcement officers, with a security check at the entrance. In a panel discussion hosted after the documentary screening, Sachs said she previously hadn’t thought about security until she organized a film screening at the University of Michigan, the first school that hosted a screening.
During the past year, National Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Secure Community Network Michael Masters said his main concern has been with student safety. He said in the first three months since college campus protests began, they identified 129 encampments.
“If students don’t feel safe, they don’t feel secure, then fundamentally we fail,” he said.
In the future, Khabie said she hopes the University will adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism.
In a non-legally binding working definition of antisemitism, the IHRA currently defines the term as follows on its website: “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
During the panel, Sachs also discussed how misinformation in the media has served as a tool for antisemitism.
She pointed to an example shown in the film, in which The New York Times reported on the al-Ahli Arab Hospital blast in Gaza City on Oct. 17, 2023. The reporting later proved inaccurate in attributing the attack to Israel.
As a strategy to counteract misinformation and antisemitism, Asaf Romirowsky — the executive director of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East and the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa — emphasized the need to understand Middle Eastern history and culture. Romirowsky was also one of the dozens of experts interviewed for the documentary.
“The film gives a good visual of the consequences of (Oct. 7) and how they have been internalized, and how they’ve cascaded into American society,” Romirowsky said. “But there’s a lot more to be done. You need to continuously look for more.”
Sachs also said her film crew screened for communities across the board, varying in perspectives, background, race and identity. The documentary includes voices from Black, Christian, Hispanic and LGBTQ+ communities, a choice that Sachs said was intentional.
In terms of the pushback, Sachs said she feels “ready for it.” She said she is grateful to have the support of important faces in the industry — including David Schwimmer, who attended the screening Monday evening.
“You look around, you find your people on campus, you proudly identify, you wear your Jewish star or your kipa,” Sachs told attendees. “Know we are not alone.”
“October 8” will be in theatres March 14.
Clarification: This story has been updated to better represent the number of attendees at the film screening.
Email: alexiasextou2028@u.northwestern.edu
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— Wildcats for Israel hosts Oct. 7 Hamas attack survivor Deborah Ben Aderet at speaker event
— Northwestern student activists set up encampment on Deering Meadow
