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Exclusive: Leviathan Productions has enlisted Avi Issacharoff and Lior Raz, creators of the hit Israeli series Fauda, to script October 7th, a narrative feature telling the harrowing true story of Noam Tibon.

A grandfather and retired Israeli general, Tibon garnered international attention when he rescued his family from the hands of Hamas terrorists who had invaded their kibbutz — with his story, capturing the Israeli spirit of resilience in the face of adversity.

Noam Tibon, the subject of Leviathan’s October 7th

Ben Cosgrove will produce the film telling that story for Leviathan Productions, with Jessica Kasmer-Jacobs and Talia Harris Ram exec producing. Noam Tibon and his son, Amir Tibon, will serve as consultants on the project.

October 7, 2023 was of course the shocking and tragic day when Hamas launched a coordinated land, sea, and air assault on Israel from the Gaza Strip, resulting in nearly 1,200 deaths, primarily of Israeli citizens. Marking...

The debilitating traumas of a long-ago rape are dramatized chillingly in Allison Anders' "Things Behind the Sun". A gritty look at the psychological ramifications on both sides of this criminal coin, "Things" had a shining festival moment at Sundance, but its hard-edged subject matter and sensibility seem best suited for video rental.

With its chilling cinematography of dead suns and washed-up beaches, "Things" drags us into the grimy underside of the music world, engulfing us with the sorrier sides of life and the horrible devastation of one young woman's existence. With her characteristically smudgy portrayal of the other side of the tracks, Anders charts the grubby, semiglamorous world of rising rocker Sherry (Kim Dickens).

With a throaty, laconic sound that comes across as a smoky blend of the Kinks and Stevie Nicks, Sherry has a song that's creeping up the college charts and on the crest of breakout popularity. Still, Sherry is no bullet, content to warble nightly at the same-old beach front tavern, clearly not going anywhere with her talent. Picking up one-nighters and drinking herself into a fall-down swirl, Sherry also is beset by a recurrent personal problem: Each New Year's, she gets snockered and wanders scarily across the lawn of a small tract home. It's a cause of concern, and the local judge is losing patience.

Sherry's downslide has gone on too long, even for her patient, supportive manager/former lover (Don Cheadle). She dogs the band, snarls at the customers and has generally withdrawn into a sullen funk. Her self-destructive streak has even caused ripples on the rock journalism circuit. A young hotshot at a Los Angeles rock rag, Owen (Gabriel Mann), convinces his editors that there's a deep-down story on Sherry, not just the usual music-trade puff. After all, it's common knowledge in the biz that Sherry is experiencing post-traumatic rape syndrome, and Owen knows more than other journalists -- he claims to know who raped her.

Laying her story around Sherry's self-destructive rut, Anders charts dark personal areas that usually only get spun around in a rock 'n' roll movie quickie and, at best, are played out dramatically in a happy I-IV-V-I progression. In this B-side of that world (drawn from Anders' personal life), we see the pain and paralysis that has claimed the lives and careers of two promising performers, Sherry and Owen. As the story takes us down, we learn that Sherry was Owen's teenage crush and that when she came to deliver a tape, she was assaulted callously by his father (Eric Stoltz) and loutish friends.

While "Things" plonks down narrative chords that wouldn't sound right in a standard 45 rpm drama, it's because Anders is plowing through emotional territory not usually explored in popular media, except as titillation or sensationalism. In addition to Anders' gritty, empathetic direction, what makes this downsided story so embracing is largely the work of the charismatic, sympathetic lead players, Dickens and Mann. With her sultry vocals and scattered demeanor, Dickens is a heartbreaker, tough and torn all at once. As the cool, concerned writer, Mann similarly shows his distress and personal demons. Cheadle, as Sherry's protective manager, hits all the right notes -- stern, fearsome and loving. In a strong cameo turn, Stoltz does a smart riff as Owen's remorseless father. Yikes, where has the time gone at Sundance? Just yesterday, Stoltz was playing kid-journalist-type roles at the festival.

As usual, Anders smartly shows us her turf -- the trailer-park/off-track world. There's a lot not only behind the sun, with much revealed through the cheap clutter of these people's lives. Through the discards and debris, Anders taps into that frightening world. The rendering is laid down straight by her terrific technical team. Special praise to cinematographer Terry Stacey for the sunny-noir lensing, capturing the malicious underside of sex, rape and rock 'n' roll.

THINGS BEHIND THE SUN

Sidekick Entertainment

and Echo Lake Prods.

Producers: Dan Hassid, Douglas Mankoff, Robin Alper

Director: Allison Anders

Executive producers: Gary Barkin, Marla Grossman, Joseph Rice, Peter Wetherell

Screenwriters: Allison Anders, Kurt Voss

Director of photography: Terry Stacey

Editor: Chris Figler

Color/stereo

Cast:

Sherry: Kim Dickens

Owen: Gabriel Mann

Chuck: Don Cheadle

Dan: Eric Stoltz

Publisher: Rosanna Arquette

Running time -- 115 minutes

No MPAA rating...

The debilitating traumas of a long-ago rape are dramatized chillingly in Allison Anders' "Things Behind the Sun". A gritty look at the psychological ramifications on both sides of this criminal coin, "Things" had a shining festival moment at Sundance, but its hard-edged subject matter and sensibility seem best suited for video rental.

With its chilling cinematography of dead suns and washed-up beaches, "Things" drags us into the grimy underside of the music world, engulfing us with the sorrier sides of life and the horrible devastation of one young woman's existence. With her characteristically smudgy portrayal of the other side of the tracks, Anders charts the grubby, semiglamorous world of rising rocker Sherry (Kim Dickens).

With a throaty, laconic sound that comes across as a smoky blend of the Kinks and Stevie Nicks, Sherry has a song that's creeping up the college charts and on the crest of breakout popularity. Still, Sherry is no bullet, content to warble nightly at the same-old beach front tavern, clearly not going anywhere with her talent. Picking up one-nighters and drinking herself into a fall-down swirl, Sherry also is beset by a recurrent personal problem: Each New Year's, she gets snockered and wanders scarily across the lawn of a small tract home. It's a cause of concern, and the local judge is losing patience.

Sherry's downslide has gone on too long, even for her patient, supportive manager/former lover (Don Cheadle). She dogs the band, snarls at the customers and has generally withdrawn into a sullen funk. Her self-destructive streak has even caused ripples on the rock journalism circuit. A young hotshot at a Los Angeles rock rag, Owen (Gabriel Mann), convinces his editors that there's a deep-down story on Sherry, not just the usual music-trade puff. After all, it's common knowledge in the biz that Sherry is experiencing post-traumatic rape syndrome, and Owen knows more than other journalists -- he claims to know who raped her.

Laying her story around Sherry's self-destructive rut, Anders charts dark personal areas that usually only get spun around in a rock 'n' roll movie quickie and, at best, are played out dramatically in a happy I-IV-V-I progression. In this B-side of that world (drawn from Anders' personal life), we see the pain and paralysis that has claimed the lives and careers of two promising performers, Sherry and Owen. As the story takes us down, we learn that Sherry was Owen's teenage crush and that when she came to deliver a tape, she was assaulted callously by his father (Eric Stoltz) and loutish friends.

While "Things" plonks down narrative chords that wouldn't sound right in a standard 45 rpm drama, it's because Anders is plowing through emotional territory not usually explored in popular media, except as titillation or sensationalism. In addition to Anders' gritty, empathetic direction, what makes this downsided story so embracing is largely the work of the charismatic, sympathetic lead players, Dickens and Mann. With her sultry vocals and scattered demeanor, Dickens is a heartbreaker, tough and torn all at once. As the cool, concerned writer, Mann similarly shows his distress and personal demons. Cheadle, as Sherry's protective manager, hits all the right notes -- stern, fearsome and loving. In a strong cameo turn, Stoltz does a smart riff as Owen's remorseless father. Yikes, where has the time gone at Sundance? Just yesterday, Stoltz was playing kid-journalist-type roles at the festival.

As usual, Anders smartly shows us her turf -- the trailer-park/off-track world. There's a lot not only behind the sun, with much revealed through the cheap clutter of these people's lives. Through the discards and debris, Anders taps into that frightening world. The rendering is laid down straight by her terrific technical team. Special praise to cinematographer Terry Stacey for the sunny-noir lensing, capturing the malicious underside of sex, rape and rock 'n' roll.

THINGS BEHIND THE SUN

Sidekick Entertainment

and Echo Lake Prods.

Producers: Dan Hassid, Douglas Mankoff, Robin Alper

Director: Allison Anders

Executive producers: Gary Barkin, Marla Grossman, Joseph Rice, Peter Wetherell

Screenwriters: Allison Anders, Kurt Voss

Director of photography: Terry Stacey

Editor: Chris Figler

Color/stereo

Cast:

Sherry: Kim Dickens

Owen: Gabriel Mann

Chuck: Don Cheadle

Dan: Eric Stoltz

Publisher: Rosanna Arquette

Running time -- 115 minutes

No MPAA rating...