Yahav Winner

Yahav Winner (; 4 June 1986 – 7 October 2023) was an Israeli filmmaker, actor, producer and cinematographer. He was murdered in the Kfar Aza massacre, part of the October 7 Hamas-led attack during the Gaza war.

Life and career Winner graduated from the Nissan Nativ Acting Studio in 2014. He was also a graduate of the film department at Minshar School of Art.

Between 2014 and 2018 he was an actor in theatre (Habima and Kibbutz theatre) and in television. His short film Faith won the best students' film at the 2020 Solidarity Human Rights Film Festival, as well as best screenplay at the Little Wing Film Festival.

His short film Neurim was screened at Cinefondation in Cannes and at the Palm Springs Shortfest. His last film, The Boy, focused on a father and son from a kibbutz near the Gaza Strip facing incoming rocket fire and nearby combat, won the best cinematography prize at the 2023 Tel Aviv International Students Film Festival. Posthumously, The Boy and Winner won the best screenplay and Prix Interculturel awards at the 2023 Filmschoolfest Munich.

Winner worked at the Film and Television School of Sapir College as head of productions.

At the time of his death, he had completed filming and began editing of his first feature-length film, which he directed, wrote and also acted in. The film was made at Kfar Aza with Winner as director and many fellow local residents appearing as actors alongside him, many of whom were murdered with him in the events of 7 October. In November 2023, the completed film, The Boy, began screening nationally at Israeli cinemas with proceeds dedicated to his widow and child. It also premiered internationally in various film festivals.

Personal life Winner was married to Shaylee Atary, an actor and singer. They had a daughter together, born in September 2023.

Death

Winner was murdered at his home during the 7 October attacks as part of the Kfar Aza massacre by Hamas militants. He was 37. His wife reported that he had attempted to lock the door to the house to protect his family and was closing the iron gate on their safe room over the hand of a terrorist who was reaching in at the last moment she saw him.

Winner was initially considered missing and his body was identified on 11 October. It was later disclosed that he had been killed by a single shot to his head while stalling the militants.

His wife was one of a number of widows who wished to continue their husbands' legacy by birthing a child via posthumous sperm retrieval (PSR) and artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization. Their case is documented in an ethics study of the matter in wartime. Single Light (2023, Hebrew title: אור פנס יחיד) - Casting Happiness and Rejoicing (2022) - Cinematographer Indian Grave (2021, Hebrew title: קבר אינדיאני) - Director, writer and actor Deep Breaths (2020, Hebrew title: שלוש נשימות עמוקות) Neurim (2020, Hebrew title: נעורים) - Producer Night Out (2019, Hebrew title: יציאה) - Actor Faith (2019) - Writer and director The Day After I'm Gone (2019, Hebrew title: היום שאחרי לכתי) - Actor Little Earthquakes (2016, Hebrew title: רעידות אדמה קטנות) - Actor The Eulogy of Pini Gurevich (2015, Hebrew title: ההספד של פיני גורביץ) - Actor Capricious Manifest (2014, Hebrew title: מניפסט קפריזי) - Actor The Plan (2012) - Actor