A new documentary investigating the impact of military operations in Gaza is set to make its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. Directed by filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, the film, titled NAZA, is the sole documentary selected to compete for the festival's prestigious Golden Lion award this year.
The project was produced alongside Jim Wilson and executive produced by Jonathan Glazer, the creative team behind the acclaimed film The Zone of Interest. Abraham and Szor previously co-directed the documentary No Other Land, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2025.
According to the directors, the documentary examines the mechanics of the conflict. "Shot at night on the rooftops of Tel Aviv, the film reveals in detail the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza," Abraham and Szor said in a statement. The title, NAZA, represents an Israeli military acronym used euphemistically by intelligence officials to denote the projected number of civilian casualties anticipated during an airstrike.
The documentary's narrative is built upon collaborative investigative reporting conducted between 2023 and 2025. This research was originally published by the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972, the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call, and international investigative journalists.
Abraham and Szor's previous acclaimed project, No Other Land, was co-directed with Basel Adra and Hamdan Ballal. That film was widely described by film critics, including Peter Bradshaw, as a "sombre, sobering work." Following its Oscar victory, the filmmakers faced significant challenges; Ballal was attacked by settlers and briefly detained. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences subsequently issued an apology after omitting Ballal and the film's name from an official statement of support.
