The Children of October 7, a moving new documentary featuring conversations between Jewish-American social media activist Montana Tucker and children who survived the October 7 attacks on Israeli kibbutzim, premiered in the UK on Monday.
Through sensitive dialogue between Tucker and children aged between 11 and 17, the film uncovers the extreme violence and trauma experienced by the youngest survivors of October 7, some of whom witnessed the murder of their parents or were taken captive by Hamas terrorists.
“On the news, I think we’re only shown about children on one side,” said Tucker, a singer and dancer who has become an outspoken advocate for Israel since October 7. “I felt that it was my responsibility and duty to make sure that these children’s stories are heard, and I think in the documentary you really see how amazing these children are – and that they were just innocent kids.”
Of the estimated 1,200 Israelis murdered during the Hamas massacre on southern Israel, 37 were children, and hundreds of the children who survived the massacre were left injured. Many were forced to watch the murder of family members and dozens, including one interviewed by Tucker in the documentary, were orphaned on October 7.
“These kids, their childhood has been stripped from them, their innocence has been stripped from them,” she said. “This documentary is not political – it doesn’t go into the conflict, it doesn’t go into the history – and I hope that even though the most evil types of people in the world have some kind of soft spot for children.”
Directed by Asaf Becker and produced by Kastina Communications, the Israeli production company behind Sheryl Sandberg’s 2024 documentary Screams Before Silence, The Children of October 7 centres exclusively on the first-hand testimonies of eight children from affected kibbutzim.
For Tucker, the grandchild of Holocaust survivors, it was crucial to tell their stories without contextualising them in a broader political narrative about Israel and Palestine, instead highlighting the way such a traumatic event impacts the lives of its most innocent victims.
“It’s really important for them to get their message out there, for people to hear their testimonies,” Tucker said.
”And that’s why I promised them I would do everything I could to make sure the world hears them.”
Speaking about the emotional toll of the interviews, Tucker said she “didn’t sleep at all while we were filming.
“There were so many moments that I wanted to break down, but I would stay strong because these kids were staying strong, and if they’re able to look at me in the eye and share with me and they’re not breaking down, I certainly cannot be the one that breaks down.”
But in what Tucker described as an emotional breakthrough, one of the children she interviewed was able to cry for the first time since her father was murdered at Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7 while they were filming an intense segment in the room where he was killed.
“Since October 7, [Ella Shani] has been speaking everywhere, and she’s been so brave and so strong, but she said she never cried – she wasn’t letting herself break down,” Tucker said.
In a moment captured in the documentary, Shani, now 16, led Tucker up to the attic where her father Yitzhak was murdered, with the blood stains still visible on the floor.
“In that moment, we both broke down together,” Tucker said. “I actually ended up telling the camera guys, ‘Can you guys cut and go downstairs?’ And we had a moment with ourselves, the two of us. And it was a really big breakthrough for her, being able to cry.”
Tucker, who has visited Israel six times since October 7 to meet survivors, hostages and their families, said she is struck each time she visits by the seemingly universal mentality of strength and resilience, and a willingness to keep looking ahead apparent even in those who have lost everything.
“I think this whole thing has brought me way closer to my Jewish identity – I feel like the positive side of all of this is that I’ve never been more proud to be Jewish,” Tucker said.
The Children of October 7 began streaming in the UK on Paramount+ on June 2
