‘Fauda' composer channels October 7 trauma into new season's searing soundtrack

From its storyline to its searing soundtrack, season five of 'Fauda' is indelibly shaped by the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught on southern Israel. The music, composed by Gilad Benamram and featuring vocalist Marina Maximilian, reflects the past three traumatic years, with track names such as 'Like a Dream,' 'Pray,' 'Dance Again,' 'Ten Seven,' 'I Will Wait for You' and 'Never Forget.' The new season, which premiered worldwide on Netflix on Tuesday, was rewritten by creators Avi Issacharoff and Lior Raz after the massacre and ensuing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Inevitably, it was influenced by what the writers, cast and crew experienced. Later episodes were based directly on the events of October 7, 2023, during which thousands of Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel and slaughtered some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and kidnapped 251 to the Gaza Strip. Benamram, who has scored all five seasons of 'Fauda,' told The Times of Israel that he was aware that he was composing the new music in a world irrevocably shaped by the massacre. 'I already knew what I was writing for; I was on set, and we were writing specifically about the trauma, the anger, the sadness, all of those feelings that began on that day through the present,' said Benamram, who has also scored other shows, including 2022's 'Suspicion' for Apple TV+. 'We were writing specifically about the trauma, the anger, the sadness, all of those feelings that began on that day through the present' The current season premiered in Israel on the Yes network on May 18 and was the most-watched in the network's history. Actor Idan Amedi, who appeared in the show's second, third and fourth seasons, and was slated to appear in the original version of Season 5, was seriously injured in an explosion while serving in the Combat Engineering Corps reserves in Gaza in January 2024. Amedi has recovered, but doesn't appear in the new season. A longtime 'Fauda' crew member, Matan Meir, was killed by a blast from a booby-trapped tunnel shaft next to a mosque in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, in December 2023, while serving in the IDF reserves. The season's first episode was dedicated to Meir. Most of the revised run is set two years after October 7, dealing with life after the trauma and shock of the Hamas attack. Filmed in southern Israel and Budapest, Season 5 also deals with anti-war and anti-Israel sentiment around the world. Benamram said the production staff felt a clear sense that the situation in Israel was seen outside the country 'in a twisted way.' 'It's very frustrating, and that frustration came through in the writing,' he said. Much of the season is anchored by a main theme, a dissonant, angry melodic line that 'kind of never ends,' said Benamram. 'That was the theme I wrote, and it describes almost all of those feelings.' 'It's the mother of all of the musical themes that we've used in 'Fauda'; it collects everything inside it,' Benamram said. 'The music builds the viewer's emotions toward the moment when we do reach that day, October 7, and then you need very little of the theme to bring back all the feelings.' Maximilian, who has worked with October 7 survivors and former hostages in several projects, including the recent concert by former hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen in Kibbutz Nir Oz in August, is featured on the piece 'Ten Seven.' 'She brings a certain kind of power that forms a centerpiece to all of it,' said Benamram, who also worked with Israeli electronic producers Guy Mantzur, Tamir Regev, Yuvèe and Chicola on the new season's soundtrack. Music from earlier in the show's run combined Western and Arabic sounds, but that changed this season to reflect the Israeli zeitgeist, Benamram said. 'I couldn't get away from it; I live with this sadness that is kind of imprinted on all of us now,' said Benamram. Benamram reflected on his experiences over the last three years as an Israeli who spent two decades living and working in the entertainment industry in New York and Los Angeles before returning to Israel a decade ago. 'I live with this sadness that is kind of imprinted on all of us now' He said he began feeling a shift in attitude from longtime colleagues, a certain coolness 'when Israel became the devil,' following the war in Gaza. For Benamram, the new season of 'Fauda' is a way to speak to viewers far beyond Israel about what happened on October 7. 'This feels like the time to stand up,' he said. 'And I can stand up with this music and a show like 'Fauda' with such a wide reach. People might dislike Israel, but they love the show, and that's what's so amazing about 'Fauda.''