How adapting controversial play Seven Jewish Children into a film expanded my Jewish identity

My first professional short film Seven Jewish Children: A Film For Gaza was released on YouTube on 1 April. The film is an adaptation of Caryl Churchill’s 2009 play and, following Caryl’s guidelines for performance of the play, it is raising funds for the Medical Aid for Palestinians organisation. Structured around seven scenes, each depicting Jewish families grappling with how to protect their youngest daughter amid shifting historical and political landscapes.

These backdrops span from the Russian pogroms to the Holocaust’s aftermath, from the difficult decision to leave Europe for Israel to the unsettling realisation that their new home once belonged to someone else. The narrative then moves through the euphoric Israeli celebrations of the 1967 Six-Day War, life in the settlements, and finally ends in 2009 during Operation Cast Lead.

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At its core, Seven Jewish Children is a study on how trauma shapes identity and how an oppressed people, through historical and political circumstances, can become oppressors themselves. It is about inherited fear, generational pain, and the gradual psychological shifts that allow one to justify actions once deemed unthinkable. 15 years after the play was first performed at the Royal Court, I believe it remains just as, if not more, urgent.

I was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado, but I’ve always introduced myself as Israeli-American. My parents are Israeli, my sister was born there, and my childhood was punctuated by annual visits to my grandparents.

In the summer of 2022, as my grandfather’s battle with cancer reached a critical stage, my father and I traveled to Israel to be with him. My father Ami Dayan, an actor and theatre director, took me to see his best friend Dori Parnes’ genius new translation of Hamlet. After the show, over coffee, Dori brought up Caryl Churchill. He spoke of her with immense admiration and respect, but also with frustration.

Just weeks prior, the European Drama Awards had revoked Churchill’s lifetime achievement award over accusations of antisemitism citing Seven Jewish Children and her support for the BDS movement. In response, Dori was organising a petition among Israeli artists supporting Caryl and calling for the award to be reinstated.

That night, he pulled out his iPad and read Seven Jewish Children aloud. It is a strikingly poetic piece that captured something deeply real and complex about Jewish history and identity with so few words. As a Jew, as the son of Israeli parents, as a filmmaker I felt an immediate pull: this was a story I needed to tell. This was a history I needed to grapple with.

A few months later, I found myself deep in my eighth draft of the script, refining my vision for the film. Through a series of connections, I had the opportunity to meet Caryl Churchill, who graciously gave me her blessing to adapt the play as my graduation project. Ultimately, though, the film was produced independently, outside of any university framework.

I knew this film would be ‘controversial’. Even before its release, people have reacted strongly, almost exclusively those who haven’t even watched it. This kind of reaction is not uncommon when a piece critiques Israel. But I hope audiences push past their initial triggers and truly engage with the film. It speaks directly to the weight of generational trauma and the fear and hatred it enables. It is not an easy message, but a vital one.

When Seven Jewish Children was first performed in 2009, it was met with intense criticism. Some accused it of being antisemitic, while others saw it as a necessary and unflinching look at Israel’s history. Today, those same debates rage on, but the urgency has only intensified. The film’s release comes at a moment when conversations about Israel and Palestine are more polarised than ever. But Seven Jewish Children is not an attack. It asks us to reflect on how fear and suffering, passed down through generations, can shape the way we see the world and, tragically, how we treat others.

What struck me most about the play, and what I hope the film captures, is its ability to make us confront painful truths without turning away. It does not deny Jewish suffering; it acknowledges it fully. But it also asks, what happens when our own pain blinds us to the suffering of others?

We are at a turning point. The way we talk about Israel and Palestine is shifting. More and more people, including many Jewish voices, are speaking out against injustice while holding onto their own histories. This is not about choosing sides, it’s about choosing humanity.

The film will be available to watch on YouTube now. Please check our website for updates and to find an in-person screening near you. I will be traveling to many of these screenings in the upcoming months in order to engage and help raise funds. If your community or organisation would like to host a screening please let us know, we will work with you to make it happen.

I hope this film encourages people the way it has encouraged me: to have the difficult conversations, to question, to learn, and ultimately, to grow. My own journey with this project has deepened my understanding of my history, not in a way that diminishes my Jewish identity, but in a way that expands it. Our traumas do not lessen our humanity; they deepen it.

The time for change is now. Not tomorrow.

Watch the film here. To host a screening raising money for Medical Aid for Palestinians click here.

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