When filmmaker Jonathan Jakubowicz went to Tel Aviv, he wanted to investigate the depths of the country’s polarization. He had been talking with his mother who has lived in Tel Aviv for almost two decades.
“And then suddenly she started talking about the marches and the division and the end of democracy,” he said.
His interest went deeper than his Jewish roots. He was born in Caracas, Venezuela, what he calls a “failed state that broke apart in many ways because of polarization.” Then, while in Tel Aviv in 2023 working on his project, “Soul of a Nation,” the Palestinian group Hamas launched the largest-ever terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
“We had no idea Oct. 7 was going to happen when we started making the documentary.”
“Soul of a Nation” has its world premiere kicking off the 28th edition of the Miami Jewish Film Festival at 7:30 p.m Thursday, Jan. 9, at the Miami Beach Bandshell.
Miami native Wendy Sachs’ documentary “October H8TE” gets its southeast United States premiere at The Hub at Temple Beth Am, Pinecrest, at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 12.