JIFF25: The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue

Australian premiere  

Combining new interviews with footage from October 7, 2023, Canadian documentarian Barry Avrich recounts how retired general Noam Tibon journeyed from Tel Aviv to the Nahal Oz kibbutz seeking to rescue his son and his family from Hamas attack. 

On the morning of October 7, 2023, Amir Tibon, an author, was at home with his family in the Nahal Oz kibbutz, less than one kilometre away from the Gaza border. His father, retired general Noam Tibon, was 85 kilometres away in Tel Aviv. As Amir and his wife and children heard Hamas attackers get closer to their home, he was able to reach his father. This film recounts how Noam set out to cross the distance between them, trying to rescue his family who were trapped in their home and surrounded by gunfire. 

Canadian filmmaker Barry Avrich is known for a wide range of documentaries, including Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz and David Foster: Off the Record. Here, Avrich works in a different register, crafting the film as a rescue thriller, as Noam retraces the steps of his true-life journey on that day.