A new documentary called “NAZA” will make its debut at the Venice Film Festival next month, and it comes from the same filmmaking team behind the Oscar-winning film “No Other Land.” Directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, who previously told the story of Palestinian activists fighting to save their villages in the occupied West Bank, are now turning their focus to Gaza.
According to the festival’s official description, NAZA looks closely at the systems behind what it calls Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. The film’s title itself comes from an Israeli military term, one that intelligence officials reportedly use to estimate how many civilians are expected to die in a single airstrike.
The documentary is backed by The Guardian and producer James Wilson, with Jonathan Glazer serving as executive producer. Wilson and Glazer previously worked together on “The Zone of Interest,” a widely praised film set during the Holocaust.
NAZA will screen on September 10, with the directors, producers, and Guardian journalists expected to attend. It stands out as the only documentary among the 21 films competing this year for the festival’s top honor, the Golden Lion award.
The film arrives against the backdrop of a war that has killed tens of thousands of people in Gaza since it began in October 2023. While a ceasefire has since taken hold, lasting peace remains uncertain, and Israeli forces still control a large part of the territory.
