The documentary NAZA, which examines the Israeli military systems behind the mass killings of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, received record applause at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday.
The film NAZA, made by Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, garnered a record twenty-four and a half minutes of standing ovation at its world premiere, the longest such instance in Venice, according to Variety.
This reaction surpassed the twenty-two-minute ovation given last year to Kaoter Ben Hania's film 'The Voice of Hind Rajab,' which tells the story of a six-year-old Palestinian girl killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in January 2024.
Venetian audience members held up Palestinian flags during the applause, while Abraham and Szor, visibly moved, were embraced by the film's executive producer, Jonathan Gleizer, director of 'Zone of Interest.'
Online, the documentary was highly praised by both festival attendees and many activists. The film features testimonies from 24 Israeli soldiers stationed on the rooftops of Tel Aviv, who recount how they killed entire families and thousands of people in Gaza.
These testimonies are part of NAZA, which premiered in Venice. The directors explained why they created this film: it aims to expose the system, not isolated instances of abuse, focusing on 'orders, policies, and operational models.'
They stated that their testimonies led to the conclusion that the mass killing of Palestinian civilians was not merely a byproduct of war, but an 'intentional, calculated, and deliberate act.'
The filmmakers reported seeking testimony from observation soldiers who assessed how many civilians would likely be killed in specific houses and who confirmed strikes, adding that these personal stories make the events in Gaza irrefutable.
The title refers to an Hebrew military acronym meaning 'collateral damage,' which is used in the film to describe assessments of expected civilian casualties during an attack. Abraham and Szor noted that this term conceals both the military's prior knowledge of probable civilian casualties and the nature of the campaign itself.
According to the official synopsis, NAZA meticulously documents 'the systems behind the calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.' The film NAZA, produced by Guardian and JW Films by James Wilson, is the only documentary competing for the Golden Lion at this year's festival.
