The award-winning documentary NAZA, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival to a record 25-minute standing ovation and took the Special Jury Prize, is now set for a theatrical rollout across 56 territories, including a wide range of European markets. The film, directed by Israeli duo Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, offers a detailed account of the systems behind what its synopsis describes as Israel's calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
Drawing on investigative reporting published between 2023 and 2025 by the Israeli-Palestinian outlet +972 Magazine, the Hebrew-language Local Call, and The Guardian, NAZA features interviews with 24 Israeli military intelligence officers, soldiers, and whistleblowers. They describe how Palestinians are targeted and how strikes are carried out despite Israeli knowledge of civilian presence in the areas hit. The title refers to a military acronym, "Nezek Agavi," used by Israeli forces to denote expected civilian casualties in an airstrike.
The film's release, in partnership with French sales company MK2 Films, is scheduled for late September and October in the UK, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Greece, Denmark, and Norway, as well as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Brazil, and Central America. Following its theatrical run, the documentary will be made available for free on The Guardian's website.
The filmmakers have also offered the film to distributors and cinemas in Israel, and The Guardian said it would explore other ways to enable screenings in the occupied Palestinian territories. Harry Davies, a Guardian investigations correspondent and one of the film's producers, called NAZA "grounded in rigorous journalism published over the past three years" and "a powerful piece of cinema."
The film was shot in secrecy at night on rooftops in Tel Aviv during the ongoing conflict, with participants' faces and voices digitally altered to protect their identities. Since its Venice premiere, NAZA has ignited a political firestorm in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the directors of contributing to "global antisemitic incitement," saying in a video that it was intolerable when such criticism comes from within Israel. He singled out the Venice applause for directors who, in his words, portray the IDF as war criminals.
Netanyahu's attack is widely seen as reflecting concern over the film's potential impact on the upcoming Israeli elections, scheduled for 27 October. His remarks followed those of Culture Minister Miki Zohar, who equated criticism of Israel's actions with antisemitism and announced he would "act immediately to revoke the Israeli citizenship" of Abraham and Szor. Zohar called the film "vile" and the Venice honour "shocking," accusing the directors of self-loathing and betrayal. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir described them as a "disgrace and an embarrassment" and suggested they move to Gaza.
The backlash has drawn widespread condemnation from within Israel and abroad. Last week, 43 local human rights organisations issued a joint statement urging authorities to stop what they called incitement and threats against the filmmakers. More than 1,500 Israeli filmmakers signed a petition defending freedom of expression and creation, warning that the rhetoric was moving dangerously close to sanctioning violence and posing a physical threat to the directors.
Tricia Tuttle, director of the Berlin Film Festival, voiced solidarity, stating: "Artists must be free to critically examine the world. Films can provoke discussion, disagreement and criticism, but in a democratic society, the response to art must be dialogue and scrutiny, not intimidation or punishment by the state."
Abraham and Szor previously won an Oscar for No Other Land, a 2024 documentary about Israeli settler violence in the West Bank. Their latest work now arrives in European cinemas amid a charged political climate, where debates over free expression and the Israel-Palestinian conflict continue to resonate. The film's European release is expected to fuel further discussion, particularly in countries with strong cinematic traditions and active public discourse on the Middle East.
As NAZA prepares to reach audiences across the continent, its journey underscores the tensions between artistic freedom and political pressure. For European viewers, the film offers an unflinching look at the human cost of conflict, and its release here may well shape conversations about accountability and the role of documentary cinema in times of war.
