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Venice Adds NAZA to Main Competition

The documentary's contested investigative claims draw on multi‑year reporting, raising its global visibility and distribution prospects.

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Director Jonathan Glazer poses alongside producer James Wilson with the Oscar for Best International Feature Film for "The Zone of Interest" of United Kingdom in the Oscars photo room at the 96th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 10, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
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Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham, right, and Rachel Szor, second from left, reunite for a new documentary premiering at the Venice Film Festival. AFP

Overview

  • Festival organisers announced on Monday that NAZA, directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, will join the Venice Film Festival main Competition and will have its world premiere on Sept. 10 in the Sala Grande.
  • The film is produced by The Guardian and James Wilson with Jonathan Glazer as executive producer and French sales company mk2 Films boarded the title for international sales on Tuesday.
  • According to festival materials, NAZA was shot on Tel Aviv rooftops and aims to show “the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” a claim the filmmakers say builds on reporting published between 2023 and 2025 by +972 Magazine, Local Call and The Guardian.
  • One high‑profile element the film draws on is a 2024 investigation that alleged an AI tool called “Lavender” compiled a list of roughly 37,000 potential targets with limited human checks, a claim the Israeli military publicly rejected at the time.
  • As the only documentary in this year’s 21‑film Competition, NAZA now has a clearer commercial route and a likely platform to shape public debate at festivals and beyond while also drawing renewed scrutiny to its journalistic claims and the human toll the film documents.