Amazon Prime airs Israeli documentary about Hamas massacre at Nova Festival

Amazon's Prime Video streaming platform has begun airing #NOVA, an Israeli documentary directed by Dan Pe’er that uses audio and video clips to document the Nova Music Festival massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. 

The documentary’s raw material shows both the victims – about 3,000 partygoers who attended the festival –and the nearly 100 terrorists from Gaza who murdered 350 Israeli and international festival attendees, which took place close to the Gaza border.

The terrorists also kidnapped 44 people from the music festival (of the estimated total of 251) and brought them into the Gaza Strip. Of those, only 14 have returned alive, while 17 others were murdered by the terrorists. 

By being available on Amazon Prime, the powerful yet harrowing documentary about the unprecedented Hamas atrocities will be accessible to viewers around the world.

“#NOVA is one of our most talked-about and controversial films, and always attracted a huge amount of interest when we held exclusive screenings at selected international venues,” said Sharon Levi, managing director of Israeli television company Yes Studios, which produced the documentary. 

“We are, therefore, honored that this extraordinary documentary has just arrived on Prime Video, making it readily available to meet the significant ongoing global demand that we know still exists,” she added. 

Levi emphasized that the total of 59 remaining hostages held by the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza makes the documentary even more relevant. 

“We may be exactly 18 months on from this terrible day, but with 59 hostages still being held and the images from the October 7 attacks still etched on our collective memories, #NOVA remains an important, unique, and must-see film,” Levi argued.

She explained the importance of seeing real-time, unfiltered footage of the massacre without any media agenda. 

“Not only does it document the brutal start of the war, but it also captures different viewpoints without a conventional news agenda or, indeed, any narrative filters. Instead, the self-shot, real-time footage presents a truly authentic account of what happened at the festival and provides a lasting testimony to the events of that day.”

The newly constructed Nova Festival memorial in southern Israel has rapidly become one of the most visited sites in the country, drawing approximately 7,000 visitors each day.

The memorial was conceived and created by Yaniv Maimon, southern regional director of the Jewish National Fund (JNF).

“We are proud to play a significant role in one of the most visited sites in Israel today,” Maimon stated. He added that many of his team members were personally impacted by the festival massacre. 

“This site holds great national importance. Furthermore, many members of KKL-JNF’s Southern Region team, who are responsible for the site's maintenance, were personally affected by the events of October 7.” 

A recent military investigation of the Nova Music Festival massacre concluded that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) failed to protect attendees, finding that no formal security assessment had been conducted for the large outdoor event and that troops were not informed in advance that the festival was taking place.