"Safe Room" Film Showing Followed by a Q&A with the film’s director Haley Geffen,
Film Synopsis
Safe Room is an intimate story of how four families converged while living in kibbutzim along Israel’s border with Gaza. Rooted in communities built on socialist values, collective care, and a belief in peaceful coexistence, their lives are paradoxically shaped by routine sirens and missile fire. On October 7th 2023, they enter their safe rooms expecting the danger to pass, unaware of just how different this day would be.
Through firsthand testimonies including children, the film places the audience inside those safe rooms as fear escalates and time collapses. In Kibbutz Be’eri, Aliza and Tzachi barricade themselves with their son while terrorists occupy and shoot rockets from their roof. At 41 weeks pregnant, Sapir argues with her husband's family over whether to flee or hide as their home burns around them. In Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Leron and Zoli learn that Leron’s sister and brother-in-law have been murdered, leaving their niece and nephew alone, with no rescue coming. The safe room, once a symbol of protection, becomes a space of paralysis, where trust in the world outside disappears.
As the day unfolds, Safe Room widens into moments of courage and care. Civilians improvise a field hospital at Shuva Junction. Rescue missions run through the night.
In the aftermath, the survivors gather in one safe home. Food is shared, children play, and they all come back to life together. In the vital moments following severe psychological trauma, they end up preserving their belief in humanity. Together, they confront grief, trauma, and the question of whether it is still possible to stay somewhere so uncertain, to trust their neighbors again, and to hope for a better future. Safe Room ends not with closure, but with choice: to live, to stay, and to believe in humanity even after witnessing its collapse.
About the Director
Haley Geffen is a six-time Emmy–winning director and the co-founder of Coed Studios, a global production and animation company. Her work spans commercials, documentary, and narrative film, with projects that have screened at major festivals and received international recognition. She directed the award-winning films Hey Girl and Jolie, and is a Sundance alum as a producer on F^¢k ’Em R!ght B@¢k. Haley was also selected to direct two long-form films for NBC examining the life and legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Haley’s work is emotionally driven and character-centered, grounded in cinematic realism and a deep respect for human connection. She is known for building trust with her subjects and capturing intimate, truthful moments with sensitivity and care. Whether working with real people or scripted material, her storytelling prioritizes empathy, nuance, and lived experience.