Berlin filmmaker launches crowdfunding campaign for love story shaped by Oct. 7

Independent filmmaker Hannah Zieziula has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund her short film "We Were Celebrating Life," Which follows a German woman and an Israeli woman who meet while traveling through Spain and fall in love before October 7, 2023 forces one of them to return home.

The narrative is fictional but rooted in Zieziula's own story. While living in Australia, she developed close relationships with a group of mostly Israeli travelers who became family to her. When the October 7 attacks occurred, she witnessed her friends learning the news and immediately departing to return to their families or rejoin military service.

"I watched people I had come to know as endlessly compassionate and open-hearted suddenly having to carry so much grief," Zieziula says. "That experience never let go of me and eventually it became the foundation for this film."

Zieziula stresses the film is personal rather than political. "I don't have the answers. It's a film about the people I came to love, the ordinary joy we shared before everything changed and the moment the news stopped being something on a screen and became someone packing a bag in front of me."

The project brings together an international crew of Israeli, German and Belgian collaborators, with Zieziula directing. The leads are performed by Meital Bilson and Michelle Wiesemes, with cinematography by Amnon Bikovsky.

After two unsuccessful applications for public film funding, the team turned to crowdfunding. The 33-day Kickstarter campaign seeks €12,000 to cover equipment, crew, filming locations in Spain and post-production. Backers receive rewards based on pledge level, including behind-the-scenes content, early digital access or producer credits.

For Zieziula, a Berlin-based actress and singer whose work spans short films, independent productions and theater, this marks her directorial debut.