'The Encampments' vs 'October 8': A battle of narratives on Palestine plays out in cinema

This article was initially set out to focus on The Encampments, Kei Pritsker and Michael T Workman’s impassioned documentary that chronicles the Columbia University student movement that shook the US and captured imaginations the world over. 

But then it came to my attention that a sparring film has been released around the same time, offering a staunchly pro-Israeli counter-narrative that vehemently attempts to discredit the account offered by The Encampment.

October 8 charts the alleged rise of antisemitism in the US in the wake of the 7 October attacks on southern Israel by Hamas-led Palestinian fighters.

A balanced record though, it is not. Wendy Sachs’s solo debut feature, which has the subhead, “The Fight for the Soul of America”, is essentially an unabashed defence of the silencing of pro-Palestinian voices.

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