A new documentary exploring the Israeli military campaign in Gaza will premiere at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival next month, organisers have announced.
Titled NAZA, the film is directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, two of the four filmmakers behind the Oscar-winning Israeli-Palestinian documentary No Other Land. It will compete for the prestigious Golden Lion, making it the only documentary among the 21 films selected for the competition.
According to the festival’s synopsis, NAZA examines what it describes as “the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.” The title refers to an Israeli military acronym that, according to The Guardian, is used by Israeli intelligence to indicate the number of civilians expected to be killed in an airstrike.
The documentary is produced by The Guardian and James Wilson of JW Films, with Oscar-winning filmmaker Jonathan Glazer serving as executive producer. Wilson and Glazer previously worked together on The Zone of Interest, which won an Academy Award for its portrayal of life around Auschwitz during the Holocaust.
NAZA is scheduled to screen on September 10 in Venice, with the directors, producers, Guardian journalists and members of the official delegation expected to attend.
The documentary comes against the backdrop of the war that began after Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,221 people and taking 251 hostages to Gaza, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel subsequently launched a military campaign in Gaza. The territory’s health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority, says more than 73,000 people have been killed. The figures are regarded as reliable by the United Nations.
Although a ceasefire took effect in October, efforts to secure a lasting end to the conflict have stalled, while Israeli forces currently control nearly 70 per cent of Gaza.
With its Venice premiere, NAZA is set to bring the human and political dimensions of the Gaza conflict to one of the world’s most prominent international film platforms.
