Venice Film Festival Slots Controversial Gaza Documentary Naza for Competition
The Venice Film Festival has added the Gaza-focused documentary Naza, by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, to its competition slate, where it will premiere on Sept. 10.
The 83rd Venice International Film Festival announced that Naza, a documentary by No Other Land co-directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, will compete and debut on Sept. 10. The film claims to expose the mechanisms behind Israel’s alleged mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, building on investigations first published by +972 Magazine, Local Call and one outlet between 2023 and 2025. Production is handled by one outlet and James Wilson at JW Films, in partnership with Placeholder Films and Unseen Hand, with Oscar-winning director Jonathan Glazer serving as executive producer.
The title derives from a military code used by Israeli intelligence to estimate civilian deaths in airstrikes. Naza is the only feature documentary on the Gaza conflict selected for competition, following the festival’s recent focus on the region, such as the standing-ovation-winning The Voice of Hind Rajab and other pending titles like Citizen Osama and Road to Jericho.
Why it matters
The film’s inclusion spotlights the ongoing Gaza conflict within a major cultural platform, influencing public discourse.
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