The Loft Cinema will show the film ‘October 8’ on Wednesday, May 14 at 7:30 p.m.
“‘October 8’ offers a look at the explosion of antisemitism on college campuses, social media and in the streets of America beginning the day after the October 7th attack on Israel by Hamas,” says a synopsis on the film’s website. It continues, “Through meticulous investigation, the film also uncovers how over decades, Hamas created sophisticated networks in America to permeate U.S. institutions and examines the tsunami of online antisemitism, propaganda, and disinformation unleashed by Iran, China and Russia — with the sole purpose of dividing American society.”
The film’s trailer drives this home, ending with New York Congressman Ritchie Torres declaring, “What’s at stake is the soul of America.”
The public screening is a victory for Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona, Tucson Jews for Justice, and their allies, who advocated for the film to be shown after The Loft screened two films many in the local Jewish community consider to be anti-Israel, “No Other Land” and “The Encampments.”
An April 24 action alert from JPSA’s Center for Jewish Resilience urged community members to ask local film managers to screen “October 8.” It also asked those who financially support local theaters to express their disappointment in the theaters’ “lack of support for our community and our films.”
“Our advocacy and outreach were successful,” CJR Director Carina Bien-Willner declared in a May 2 action alert update announcing the screening at the Loft.
JPSA is offering discounted tickets ($6) here.
“Let’s fill the theater for this important film,” Bien-Willner added, urging people to share the link with “people you know who might learn from this film.”
The Jewish community previously held a sold-out private screening of the film at the AMC Foothills on April 23.
Tony Zinman, a local attorney and co-founder of Tucson Jews for Justice, collaborated with the CJR to organize both the private AMC screening and the Loft screening of “October 8.”
The Jewish community filled the theater for the AMC screening, which included a Q&A with JPSA President and CEO Hava Leipzig Holzhauer and Rabbi Stephanie Aaron. But Zinman — and the CJR — still wanted a screening that would be visible to the wider community.
After consulting with Bien-Willner, Zinman contacted the Loft about “October 8,” only to be told they didn’t have room to show it and that they were showing “No Other Land” because it won the Academy Award for Best Documentary.
They told him, “We’re not political” and that the Loft screens all Academy Award Best Documentary winners. However, The Loft subsequently also showed the film “The Encampments.”
Three days after the CJR sent its action alert, the Loft agreed to show “October 8.”
Zinman says he’s “very excited” that the May 14 showing of “October 8” appears on the Loft’s website and will be on the marquee outside the theater.
“We are not going to allow attempts to suppress the Jewish voice in film, the media, and in publishing to go unchecked. This film sheds light on the coordinated effort to divide America through the rise of Jew-hatred since the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. We know the most effective way to combat bigotry and hatred of the Jewish community is through education. This film should be screened widely,” Bien-Willner says.
Leipzig Holzhauer notes that “it is only through collaboration with various community members, partners, and allies that we find important wins like this one. There is no single strategy that works, but a combination of direct advocacy, teaching, showing up, persistence, and a view towards the long game.”
