Twenty-four Israeli military insiders including intelligence officers and soldiers give insight into the war in Gaza and what they say is the systemic killing of Palestinian civilians in “NAZA,” a documentary that's having its world premiere Thursday at the Venice Film Festival. The film was made by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, the Israeli filmmakers behind the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land." “NAZA” was shot in secret on rooftops in Tel Aviv across three years and its subjects’ identities are obscured, with digital alterations of their voices and appearances. The film’s title references an Israeli military acronym used as a shorthand for civilian casualties, including men, women and children.
Testimony from Israeli military insiders The subjects in the film detail the surveillance systems and remote bombing involved in the Israeli military's operation, which they say uses artificial intelligence to identify potential Hamas targets and bomb their homes and apartments often knowing that families are inside. And sometimes just asking the question, you get answers.” “NAZA” builds on reporting between 2023 and 2025 published by the Israeli-Palestinian +972 Magazine, the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call and The Guardian. Szor spoke about the purpose of making a film with information that has already been reported and published.
It was a late add to the festival, which producer James Wilson said was at their request, in part to allow them to finish the anonymization of their subjects. Keeping the focus on the victims, not the subjects The film doesn’t dwell on what motivated their subjects to speak. Abraham noted that some expressed remorse, some didn’t; some deliberately spoke in Hebrew, some spoke out of indifference and pride.
The filmmakers and producers were inspired by “The Zone of Interest” filmmaker Jonathan Glazer’s note that in his film the victims are out of the frame, but never out of mind. This is the heart of what we want to do.” Wilson also spoke about the antisemitism accusations that are sometimes thrown at projects critiquing the actions of the Israeli government. Bearing witness, from ‘No Other Land’ to ‘NAZA’ Abraham and Szor were two of the four directors of the 2025 best documentary winner “No Other Land,” the story of Palestinian activists fighting to protect their communities from demolition by the Israeli military.
A collaboration between Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers, it was made between 2019 and 2023, wrapping production days before Hamas launched its deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that started the war in Gaza. On that day, Hamas-led militants attacked Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 as hostages. In Israel’s ensuing offensive, more than 73,422 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and militants but says women and children make up around half of all fatalities. It’s something very, very systemic,” he added. But we are showing it from the inside, with insider testimony.” The ongoing conflict is top of mind at the Venice Film Festival The areas Israel controls in Gaza have been mostly destroyed and depopulated.
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