Israeli documentary on Oct 7 Nova Festival massacre wins Emmy award

The new Israeli documentary “We Will Dance Again,” which chronicles the Nova Festival massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, was awarded this week the prestigious Emmy Award for Outstanding Current Documentary Film.

Directed by Yaniv Mozer, the film uses raw footage from both festival participants and Hamas terrorists to reconstruct the brutal events. According to the official IDF investigation released in April 2025, the attack resulted in 378 fatalities, most of them young civilians attending the outdoor music festival near the Gaza border, who were massacred by Hamas terrorists. The film documents the events as they happened.

Mozer accepted the Emmy on Thursday while emphasizing the pain that both Israelis and Gazans have experienced since the devastating Hamas attack in Israel.

“As of tonight, [it has been] 620 days that the Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza have experienced a catastrophic pain because of the war triggered by Hamas on October 7,” Mozer said.

“We Will Dance Again" is the result of a fruitful cooperation with Israeli and international media organizations, including Israel's HOT cable Channel 8, the BBC and MGM networks, and SIPUR studios in Herzliya. In addition, the Paramount+ network broadcasts the documentary in the United States.

Mozer emphasized that the war in Gaza must end as quickly as possible.

"There are hostages that must come home, some are featured in the film," he said during his acceptance speech. "That is the purpose of being here at the ceremony. Winning an Emmy just makes it more important to deliver that message."

The film's producer, Michal Weits, was injured in the recent Iranian missile attack on Tel Aviv and was unable to attend the Emmy Award event.

“We Will Dance Again” was nominated for the News & Documentary Emmy Award last month.

Rinat Klein, director of HOT8 and CEO of Slutzky Productions, which were involved in the film production, said their team was proud of the nomination.

"We are proud and excited about this extraordinary achievement,” Klein said.

“A nomination for the Emmy – one of the most prestigious awards in the television world – is proof of the power of this film. From the very beginning, we knew this was a film that had to be made, not only as a documentary record, but as a deep human statement about the spirit of life and love of an entire generation. This international recognition is not only moving – it is also a responsibility, and it gives a platform and a voice to survivors who choose to keep living and dancing despite everything,” Klein stated.

Following the unprecedented Nova massacre near Kibbutz Re'im, the newly established Nova Festival Memorial has become one of Israel’s most visited sites, drawing an average of 7,000 visitors per day, including both Israelis and international visitors.

The tragic event was not solely defined by victims and perpetrators—heroes also emerged amid the chaos. Among them was Bedouin Israeli police officer Ramo Alhuzeil, who risked his life to save multiple festivalgoers during the massacre.

"I started to evacuate people, and my first goal was to find a car. God helped me, and I found a Nissan Juke with a full tank of gas. I took the maximum amount of people I could fit into it and we drove until we reached a cement barricade with an Israeli policeman. I drove back and forth for three hours," Alhuzeil recalled.