As the fragile ceasefire continues, those displaced from their homes on both sides of the border are trying to figure out where to go, and a Kan 11 documentary series, Kfar Aza – 95% Heaven by Karin Kainer, focuses on the experiences of residents of a single kibbutz in the Gaza border region. The series is available at kan.org.il and was created by Paramount's Ananey Studios.
The name Kibbutz Kfar Aza is now synonymous with the horrors of the October 7 massacre by Hamas and the failure of the Israeli government to act promptly and decisively to save its residents: Out of the approximately 800 people who were there that day, 64 were murdered and 18 were kidnapped. Three days passed before the kibbutz was completely cleared of terrorists by the army.
The series follows the experiences of several families who lost close relatives in the massacre and who have no easy path forward. The first episode starts just after October 7, as families look through the wreckage of their loved ones’ apartments, searching for photos and objects left intact that are not covered in too much blood to pick up and, in a daze, take part in tours of the area to show what happened.
One family who plays a major part in the series are the Epsteins, who lost their son, Netta, killed when he jumped on a grenade to save his fiancée. We see his mother, Ayelet Shahar Epstein, as she tries to cope in the weeks following his death, having to tell work acquaintances what has happened in telephone calls and trying her best to get through each day. She and her husband, Uri, recall growing up on the kibbutz, and home movies from the 1970s are shown, in which children run freely, and it looks closer to 100% heaven.
But once Hamas took over in Gaza, missile attacks became increasingly frequent and the kibbutz clinic doled out medications, even to children, to help them deal with anxiety. It’s chilling to see footage of how they coped with the missile attacks over the years, but many clung to the feeling that the community life of the kibbutz was worth that 5% hell they endured.
For most, that feeling shifted after October 7. As the kibbutz struggled to decide whether – and where to move as a group – some residents went their own way. Ayelet felt she could never return and wanted to live as far away as possible, while her husband, the kibbutz’s business manager, felt compelled to help rebuild it and, eventually, was elected head of the Sha’ar Negev council. Yonatan Shamriz, the brother of hostage Alon Shamriz, who was mistakenly killed by the IDF after escaping his captors in December 2023, turned to activism and helped organize the commemoration ceremony that was run independently of the government.
Still, no matter what path the residents take, the kibbutz still holds a place in their hearts and minds, and Kfar Aza is presented as a microcosm of a society that has lost faith in its country’s leadership, but that still insists on clinging to life.
Rom-com territory
If you want to escape into rom-com territory, but not go too far, you’ll be glad to hear that Nobody Wants This, the hugely popular Netflix series about the interfaith romance between a newly single rabbi, Noah (Adam Brody, who will probably have to live with the nickname “Hot Rabbi” for the rest of his career), and gentile podcaster, Joanne (Kristen Bell, who gives a very appealing performance), has just released its second season.
One of the new showrunners, Jenni Konner, said in a recent interview, “I didn’t want to change the show at all. I loved it. I was just like, ‘More of the same!’” and she kept her word. Season two is very similar to season one, which ended with the characters in a clinch. The new season is about how they navigate their romance, with the religious divide providing the inevitable stumbling block. Still, it’s nice to see them enjoy their relationship and Tovah Feldshuh is back as Noah’s bossy mom, along with the rest of the supporting cast who get a lot of screentime. In 2024, almost everybody seemed to want this series, and those who binged it won’t be disappointed with season two.
Game of Thrones and more
For those who miss Game of Thrones and want to travel back in time, Hot (starting October 30) and Yes (where it just began running) are offering the new British series, King & Conqueror, which opens with William of Normandy (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who played Jaime Lannister on GoT ) and Harold of Wessex (James Norton, who is also in the new Netflix series, House of Guinness) facing off at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, and then goes back in time a few years to find out how they got there.
In a way, it can be seen as a super-prequel to The Crown, since the fight between these two one-time allies determined the future of Britain’s monarchy, and Luther Ford, who played Prince Harry, has a small role here. If your grasp of that historical period is murky – and even in England, some critics noted how little many people seem to know of the period portrayed – don’t worry, because the dialogue, especially in the first two episodes, provides an enormous amount of exposition.
Another reason not to worry is that even without the historical background, you can just see it as a series about royal intrigues and battles, and there are plenty. In most episodes, someone gets stabbed every few minutes, and the only thing you can count on is that William and Harold will make it to 1066. Coster-Waldau is especially good as the determined William the Conqueror.
Classic Leonardo DiCaprio
While we're looking to England, Netflix has just added one of the most entertaining filmed versions of the Shakespeare classic, Romeo and Juliet. However, the 1996 version, Romeo + Juliet, which made Leonard DiCaprio and Claire Danes into big stars, is a wild updating of the classic, which will not please purists. It got a lot of bad reviews, but it holds up well, especially the sexy performances by its two leads, and it put director Baz Luhrmann on the map.
It immediately telegraphs that it’s not the play you learned in school, as a TV set is shown with the announcer reporting on the deaths of “star-crossed lovers.” The rest of the film is set in what is described as a suburb of Verona, but which looks like the South Beach neighborhood of Miami and which was mostly filmed in Mexico. Yes, Danes and DiCaprio mumbled and mangled much of the dialogue, but the visuals are spectacular, especially the ball where they meet and the balcony scene.