The new documentary NAZA premiered in the main competition at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, receiving a 25-minute standing ovation. Directed by Oscar-winning Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, the 80-minute feature documentary is the only documentary competing for the Golden Lion this year. The film takes its title from a Hebrew military acronym used by Israeli intelligence to refer to collateral damage, or the number of civilians expected to be killed in an attack.
NAZA Documentary Premieres at Venice Film Festival
The documentary was produced by The Guardian and James Wilson of JW Films, with Jonathan Glazer serving as an executive producer. Wilson and Glazer previously worked together on the Oscar-winning film The Zone of Interest, and the film is sold internationally by mk2 Films. NAZA builds upon investigations published between 2023 and 2025 by The Guardian alongside the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call.
Testimony from Intelligence Insiders and AI Systems
Filmed on darkened rooftops in Tel Aviv, NAZA features the anonymous accounts of 24 Israeli military and intelligence insiders, including officers and soldiers. According to their testimony, the military utilized artificial intelligence-based mapping tools to trawl for phone signals and identify large numbers of suspected low-ranking Hamas members as potential targets. Intelligence officers described hacking into the phones of individuals marked for attack, covertly listening to conversations between targets and their wives and children until shortly before strikes were launched against their homes.
The insiders stated that people identified through these systems were bombed in their residences at night despite the knowledge that the strikes would also kill members of their families. Abraham noted that the filmmakers asked the officers to describe their work, stating that some spoke out of indifference or pride in their expertise, while others felt shame. The directors emphasized that the film focuses on authorized policies, accepted practices, and the system itself rather than sporadic misconduct by individual soldiers.
Production Background and Context
Directors Abraham and Szor previously won an Oscar for their 2024 documentary No Other Land, which was co-directed with Basel Adra and Hamdan Ballal. In NAZA, the filmmakers combine the rigor of investigative journalism with cinematic storytelling. The directors stated that all allegations presented in the film were checked multiple times with multiple individuals, and noted that the military operations examined in the documentary continue.
Speaking at a news conference in Venice, Abraham and Szor discussed the challenges of addressing these systems within Israeli society, where large swathes of the public remain skeptical of war crime allegations. The filmmakers expressed hope that having individuals speak on camera in Hebrew from Tel Aviv will make the findings harder to ignore.
- Directors: Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor
- Producers: The Guardian and James Wilson (JW Films)
- Executive Producer: Jonathan Glazer
- Interviewees: 24 anonymous Israeli military and intelligence insiders
- Festival Premiere: 83rd Venice International Film Festival
