Barry Avrich and IDF Maj. Gen. (Res.) Noam Tibon discuss ‘The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue’—a gripping film about courage, family, and survival on October 7.
“I wasn’t looking to make a political film,” Avrich says. “I was looking to make a film about humanity and survival.”
“The moment I got the call from my son, I didn’t think twice,” Tibon says. “I told him, ‘I’m coming,’ and I left immediately.”
In this wide-ranging interview, Avrich and Tibon reflect on the extraordinary real-life events that inspired ‘The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue.’ Avrich details how he brought Tibon’s harrowing journey to the screen, while Tibon recounts the day he raced south under fire to rescue his son and grandchildren from Hamas terrorists on October 7. Together, they discuss the urgency of telling this story, the balance between documentary and dramatization, and the universal themes of bravery, resilience, and love for family that transcend borders.
‘The Road Between Us’ is a documentary that tells a harrowing true story reminiscent of ‘Taken.’ On October 7, 2023, retired Israeli general Noam Tibon received a desperate message from his son, Haaretz journalist Amir Tibon—terrorists had stormed his home, and he, his wife Miri, and their two young daughters were in imminent danger at their home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz. With the country in chaos and the IDF seemingly missing in action, Noam and his wife, Gali, set out on a perilous ten-hour mission to save their family.
Drawing on instincts and years of military training, Noam faced ambushes, roadblocks, and a fractured security system in a race against time. Directed by Canadian filmmaker Barry Avrich, the film reconstructs the ordeal step by step, fusing firsthand testimony with the raw immediacy of a survival thriller. In addition to members of the Tibon family, Avrich interviews members from the Nahal Oz security team and the widow of Ilan Fiorentino.
‘The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue’ will open exclusively in theaters across North America on October 3, 2025, with more than 125 prints in release. The rollout includes the top 20 markets, among them New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, San Francisco, Chicago, Vancouver, Montreal, and West Palm Beach.
The film is being released theatrically by Forston Consulting in the U.S. and Cineplex Pictures in Canada following its sold-out world premiere during the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2025.
Awards Focus: ‘The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue’ is one of the most important films at the festival. How honored were you to finally be able to play the film after all the controversy?
Barry Avrich: I would say it was a feeling of vindication and fulfillment. I’ve made close to 70 films. I’ve never felt so fulfilled emotionally and creatively. And to walk on that stage, to two standing ovations, certainly, and to walk on the stage with Noam and Gali, I am nothing compared to the battle that they’ve gone through. Nothing.
But to share that moment last night, a victory for us in a lot of ways, was great.
AF: A lot of films playing TIFF don’t generally play at the Roy Thomson Hall unless they are selected as a Gala Presentation. The schedule had already become public before the film was announced. I’m assuming you found out during the lengthy meeting that led to the film’s reinstatement?
Avrich: Well, the meeting on Thursday was the end of a very hard week for me. We found out on Monday or so that the film wasn’t in. And then it was very, very emotional for all of us. Where was this going to go? I started to prepare myself that it wasn’t going to be in the film festival. I wasn’t going to let that go without some kind of battle. And the world reacted. I’m very humbled by that.
And then over the week, it led up to that venue. In a lot of ways, that was a happy ending as well because the film was originally scheduled—no one knows it—the film was originally scheduled to play in Lightbox in their second to largest theater. So 480 seats to 1,800. That’s good.
As a filmmaker to see it on a large screen—in the documentary business, most films go to a television screen. Most people tell me they watch my films on an airplane or on a tablet, which drives me crazy. So to see a film like this, an action thriller in a lot of ways, on that massive screen was the best. The best.
AF: How did it feel to be in attendance for the premiere and take it in with a crowd of that size?
Noam Tibon: I was very excited. It was, for me, for important. It’s a great honor to be here at TIFF. After all this ups and downs, in and out and in again, it was so important to me that people will see the movie. At the end of the day, it’s a story about the family, it’s a story about the father and the mother, grandpa and grandma, who are taking action to save their family.
I think in many ways this is universal, because everyone who has kids knows this feeling. I will do everything for him. I think Barry did a remarkable job. At the end of the day, I felt victory because it’s important that people will know what happened on October 7. It’s important that you would not erase it. I think that watching this movie is not only to see, you can feel it.
I was very excited. It’s not my world, I’m not used to red carpets, but coming to the stage with this standing ovation. I felt that I’m representing not only myself, but, the people of Israel. That this story is important for them.
I think at the end of the day, what is so important for me is that when people will go home from the movie, when they will sit in the car and they will discuss and say, What would we do in such a situation? What would we do to protect our family?
AF: I would move heaven and earth. I would get in Liam Neeson-mode.
Avrich: And he did. He did. He did. I felt that every step of the way with him.
AF: When did you start considering making a documentary following October 7 and what sparked the idea in following the Tibon family and retracing their steps?
Avrich: After October 7, I, as a filmmaker—again, I’m not a political filmmaker, but I was looking to find some ray of hope in such a story that changed the world for us, for everyone. And I was looking and looking and looking. I came across this story, and started to think about it, and then saw the 60 Minutes piece with Noam.
I called him, expecting to be the 15th producer in line for this and waiting for rejection. We developed some chemistry on the call and in a Zoom, and he was very interested in what my perspective was, which was, I can’t make a political film. Not who I am, it’s not what I do, but I just want to focus on, as a father, I want to focus—as he said, what would I’ve done.
My plan was to alright, he’s a retired military general, okay? What’s your plan? What’s day one look like? What is day two, three? Give me your whole schedule, and so we went through it, planned it like a military operation sort of filming and he got the sense that okay, this is what I’m going to do and also important for us to tell the story of the other cast members in this film people who saw true loss.
He is lucky and in a lot of ways was as best you can in a day like that was going to define his destiny one way or another. But so many people saw loss and important for me to tell those stories as well.
I got on it immediately and was happy that he said, “You know what? Fine. I’ll go with you.” It could have been all kinds of other people.
Tibon: I can tell you this. The fact that Barry came from Canada, he’s not an Israeli, he was focused on the story, and he is a professional. He knows how to do movies and in a way, he made me feel comfortable—me and my family—to discuss this day in a very personal way and I think also, the way he put the footage around my story, in a way that people will feel. Thank you very much, my friend.
AF: I’m glad your story is being told at TIFF at a time when we’re experiencing this very terrible surge of antisemitism.
Avrich: Yeah. I think we heard that from the stage, the acknowledgment from the head of the film festival. Acknowledging that.
We have to acknowledge what’s going on and at the same time, balance that with some sense of optimism, Danielle, because there’s no other way. You have to fight it. You have to be aware of it. And if you’re not optimistic, I don’t know what the way out is here to exist.
That’s what this film is, I feel, is a film wrapped in the flag of family and optimism. I’m hoping people come out and say there’s real people here. Real people. People with lives. People with families. Let’s think about this for a moment. That’s the plan as we release the film.
Tibon: Twice I felt so excited and so thankful to people—the first time was when TIFF decided to take the movie out and we saw here in Canada and in the US, the way not only the Jewish community but people said, hey, this is not fair. This is not a real excuse to get the right from Hamas.
Also in Israel, it was a huge issue and I want to thank all those very good people who supported the movie so this was a great victory.
The second victory was yesterday. We saw the people outside demonstrating, still 1800 people to came watch the movie and gave a huge standing ovation. I just want to thank all those people from the deep of my heart and from from my wife Gali and the family.
I think at the end of the day, these are the real answers for antisemitism. We are not afraid. We are following the truth. I think the way Barry handled it here, at the end of the day, I think it’s one of the greatest victories of our story today, and I hope that as many people will watch it.
And they can decide, but once you watch this movie, I think it makes you think, and this is what we want.
AF: How long was the rough assembly cut?
Avrich: I’m not one of those filmmakers that has a 14-hour cut that has to get it through and then has to do that. Before I begin a documentary, I have a wall with 100 index cards, act by act, subplot, so that when I’m dealing with an editorial team, we have an idea going in of what we’re going to cover.
If any editor—I work with any editor—if any editor is going to bring me a cut that’s two and a half hours, it’s not going to sell. I can’t play it. I don’t want the burden of that.
So this film, I will tell you, in its first cut, came into time. Generally, with my films, I might be a little six or seven or eight minutes over, but we were pretty much to time. What you saw and what the world will see is what we got when we had the first cut of the film, rough cut, as you say.
I believe a movie has to be palatable to people. Anything beyond that amount of time is self-serving to a director.
AF: Was there anything you wanted to keep in but couldn’t find the right place?
Avrich: Nope. Never happens with me. I will find a place and make those sacrifices. But no, people ask me, what’s on the cutting room floor all the time? Stuff I don’t want.
AF: A lot of October 7 documentaries feature the GoPro footage. What were some of the conversations regarding the violence and how much to keep in the film?
Avrich: It’s a great question, thank you. We looked at thousands of hours of camera footage, Hamas as well as highway security cameras, kibbutz cameras.
The intention with this footage was to match whatever Noam saw that day. I wasn’t interested in shocking or horrifying people beyond what he saw in that day. So every kilometer, or mile in your case, that he drove and got caught in a junction, it was to try and find cameras to match what he saw so you felt it in the moment.
That’s how we decided. Not based on shock value, not based on horrific violence. That’s all there. A lot of people have seen this footage.
But could we match when we pulled up at a junction or he drove into an ambush, could we find those cameras? And we did. That was my mission, but at the same time, my method of operation was to match cameras to what he saw.
AF: What was the most challenging aspect in making the documentary?
Avrich: The most challenging aspect of the film was to ensure that I told the film in real time. That’s why the clock is running. That I wanted the audience to be on the edge of their seat in a documentary, which is unheard of in a lot of ways.
Documentaries are documenting things, they’re biographical. But could I create the sense of cinema and drama of that moment of that day? That’s what the challenge was going in and that was the challenge to my editorial team, editor named Dave Kennedy, who’s never done a feature before.
Never done a feature before. I love his work he’s done in short form. I said, How would you like to do a feature? “I would love it.” I trusted him because he understood the story. Not Jewish. Understood the story and that was important to me.
AF: I’m curious if anyone’s approached you to tell your story as a narrative feature?
Tibon: As a big movie?
Avrich: Feature, yeah, drama feature. It’s happening.
Tibon: Yeah, it’s happening. It’s going to be a Hollywood movie. But this is going to be inspired. It’s not going to be…
Avrich: Based on.
Tibon: Based on. I think that both together are important. I think what Barry made really is very accurate and the Hollywood movie is going to be a lot of action.
But still, for me, it’s important as an Israeli that people will watch it all over the world. And as a father, I can give everybody only one lesson learned. Don’t wait. If your family is under threat, don’t wait. Do whatever you can to save them.
AF: What do you hope people take away from watching the film?
Tibon: I think that the main issue will be our family, what is important to us, our values. I didn’t leave anyone behind me. Twice, I went back to save people.
This is the important issue. I think that my goal, if it will go to their heart, and they will discuss it later on and think about their own family, about their own values, about their own kids. This is what’s important.
Avrich: For me, I just hope people go in, watch the film with an open mind, and relate to the story. It would have been way easier to go down a political road. It would have been way easier to have an opinion in terms of what’s going on in the world.
All I want people to do is to focus on, again, as Noam said, what would you do on that day if it was you? Within all conflict, there are real people and families. Watch this movie and get a sense of it.
Do not go in with a preconceived notion that because it’s happening in a specific region that it must be political. No, it doesn’t have to be political. It’s, again, an emotional moment. I’m hoping people give it a chance.
AF: The only thing political I felt while watching the film was, where was the government that day? Where was the IDF?
Avrich: Yeah. I think everybody feels that. That’s an arc through the film. And then you think that, and then suddenly that door opens, and a father and son reunite. That’s all you think about. I’ve seen the film 150 times, and I’m still hobbled by that, floored by that.
AF: It was so nice to meet you.
Avrich: You, too. Thank you. Big fan. Big fan. So thank you.
Tibon: Thank you very much.
AF: And you’re a hero. Shanah Tovah.
Tibon: Thank you very much. Shanah Tovah.
Avrich: Shanah Tovah. Safe travels home and thank you for staying.