Black Forest flyer png

Kay Wilson has known prolonged and horrendous terror at a depth that most will never know, yet she refuses to let this event destroy her life. Her story is one that will inspire all to discover what it really means to live life to the full and how against all odds it is possible to find hope in the darkest of places.

Black Forest is a chilling 50-minute Israeli documentary, which chronicles the brutal slaughter of two women, and the extraordinary survival of Kay Wilson, which led to the capture of the terrorists who perpetrated the crimes. The screening includes a Q&A in which Kay will also address the salaries paid to her would-be murderers, with the intent to empower communities to put a stop to this policy.

Listen to Kay Wilson’s Ted Talk and learn more 

Purchase your tickets today

More about Kay Wilson and the Black Forest

“Come when the sun is not yet too hot, yet the air so fragrant that there should be a fee just for breathing.”

Israel is not a nation of grandeur, at least not in the sense of the Sierra high peaks or the Swiss Alps. Rather, we are a nation of smaller, more accessible beauty. And as such, the small pockets of nature—copses of trees, trickles of streams, hillocks of ephemerally bright blooming flowers –that dot our landscape are much appreciated, much loved.

The words quoted above were found in the diary of a typical Israeli woman. A woman who loved her husband, her daughter, her land. These words were found after she was bound, gagged, and hacked to death in a lovely wooded space. Black Forest, an Israeli documentary, is the story of that beautiful pine-covered hill. It is a story of three women who walked its paths, among the trees and birds and flowers, who laughed and listened and looked at its sun-dappled trails. Two of them would never see anything else. The third would find the courage to retrace, there among the slim pines and small bushes, what should by all rights have been her last steps on earth.

Black Forest is both true-crime documentary and paean to a terror victim’s audacious courage. It is the tale of a desperate manhunt for a pair of murderers who slaughtered Neta Sorek in February 2010. For nearly a year the perpetrators remained at large. We watch police detectives and forensic experts work their craft, ever aware that with each passing day, their chances for success grow slimmer, while the chance that the terrorists will strike again grows larger. We meet a worried husband whose wife never returned from a short vacation. We meet a lab tech who, amidst all her technological wizardry, hopes against hope for some plain luck. But mostly, and unforgettably, we meet Kay Wilson.

Kay was a British-Israeli tour guide who, on a warm December day in 2010, was showing Kristine Luken, an American tourist, the small copses of nature along the Israel Trail. It was nearly ten months to the day after the murder of Neta Sorek. Their walk ended not with a bracing cup of tea at trail’s end, but in a horrific terror attack. Black Forest walks us through that day and Kay Wilson reenacts the way in which she managed to survive more than a dozen machete stabbings while watching her companion get hacked to pieces.

Kay shares with us the fear, the shock, the last thread of hope—when none was to be had. We listen to her retell her story while watching it take place before our eyes, as if we had been there. It’s riveting and heartbreaking. We stare in disbelief as she manages to stab one of the attackers with her tiny pen knife – that act led to partial victory over evil. But first, we listen to Kay as she shared with us one last decision—to die where at least someone will find her body—and that of her murdered friend.

Black Forest is not an easy film to watch, but it is an important one. Kay’s story is not just one of courage in the face of death, but of fortitude in facing a life never to be lived the same since. She tells us that she never cried over her narrow escape from death—refusing to grant her would-be killers that satisfaction. “Malice doesn’t make me cry. Kindness makes me weep.”

And so too will Black Forest make you weep. Watch it.

Become a Community Sponsor.

We invite Atlanta’s pro-Israel organizations to unite against hate and help combat bigotry, anti-Semitism and terrorism. Please help us bring Kate Wilson to the Atlanta community to tell her inspiring story.

Thanks to our SPONSORS who have all made this event possible.

DIAMOND SPONSOR:  Zen1210Israel_pops_meme_010219

GOLD SPONSOR:  Anonymous

BRONZE SPONSORS:

‘Act of Loving Kindness’ by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral CareAct of Loving Kindness LOGO

B’nai Brith International (Achim Gate City Lodge)BB-InternationalIsraeli-American Council (IAC)
IAC-Atlanta-logo

Jewish Federation of Atlantalogo-large-clear

Save a Child’s Heart Georgia

save A child’s heart

The Consulate General of Israel to the Southeast Region – Israel in Atlantaconsulate general of Israel

This post has been contributed by a third party. The opinions, facts and any media content are presented solely by the author, and Atlanta Jewish Connector assumes no responsibility for them. Want to add your voice to the conversation? Publish your own post here.