Society16.08.2026

Haley Geffen’s ‘Safe Room’ to Screen at Jerusalem’s DocuText Festival

This year’s DocuText festival in Jerusalem will feature several documentaries addressing the events of October 7 and their aftermath. The lineup includes Haley Geffen’s Safe Room, Saved by the Ball, which follows Kfar Aza’s soccer team, and The Campaign, an investigative documentary about disinformation and propaganda in the aftermath of October 7.

Safe Room will be screened at the DocuText documentary film festival, currently underway at the National Library of Israel. Directed by Haley Geffen, the film tells the harrowing and emotional story of strangers who survived the October 7 Hamas attacks and found refuge in the home of Dr. Gedalya Fendel in Moshav Shuva, near the Gaza border.

Steering clear of overt politics and strict chronological timelines, the documentary weaves together the protagonists’ narratives to illustrate how individuals process unimaginable horror through mutual support. On the morning of October 7, Dr. Fendel established a makeshift field hospital on the road outside his home. Realizing that evacuation routes were compromised, he began directing survivors who did not require emergency medical attention to his own house, where his wife, Merav, and their children took them in.

Sheltering inside the Fendels’ safe room (mamad) were nine-month-pregnant Sapir Ben Ezra, whose home had been set ablaze by terrorists; elderly couple Aliza and Tzachi Gad, who had spent 13 hours hiding in their Kibbutz Be’eri residence; and siblings Michael (9) and Amalia Idan (6) from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. The children’s parents were murdered, and their younger sister was abducted to Gaza. The siblings hid in a closet for 12 hours while social worker Tamar Schlesinger stayed in contact with them by phone.

According to Geffen, a six-time Emmy Award-winning director, Safe Room transcends a mere tale of survival and terror. It is a profound exploration of how, during the darkest and most terrifying moments of their lives, absolute strangers offered each other unwavering support, forging a bond akin to family. The survivors remain in close contact to this day.

The DocuText festival lineup features several documentaries addressing the events of October 7 and their aftermath, alongside films exploring Israeli culture and Jewish identity. A special screening of Safe Room is scheduled for Monday, August 17, at the National Library of Israel. The screening will be followed by an English-language Q&A featuring director Haley Geffen, Gedalya and Merav Fendel, and social worker Tamar Schlesinger.