The 83rd Venice International Film Festival has added NAZA, a documentary by Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, to its main competition, the festival announced this week. The film, which will have its world premiere on September 10, is the only documentary among the 21 films competing for the Golden Lion.
Venice Film Festival adds Israeli documentary on Gaza civilian casualties to main competition
The 83rd Venice International Film Festival has added NAZA, a documentary by Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, to its main competition, the festival announced this week. The film, which will have its world premiere on September 10, is the only documentary among the 21 films competing for the Golden Lion.
According to a press release, NAZA was shot at night on rooftops in Tel Aviv and examines Israeli military systems used in the Gaza war, focusing on Palestinian civilian casualties. The film draws on investigations published between 2023 and 2025 by +972 Magazine, Local Call, and The Guardian.
The title refers to the Hebrew military acronym for 'collateral damage' and, in the context of the film, to estimates of civilian casualties anticipated in airstrikes.
The film was produced by The Guardian and James Wilson of JW Films, in collaboration with Placeholder Films and Unseen Hand, with Jonathan Glazer as executive producer. Wilson and Glazer were both part of the team behind the Oscar-winning film The Zone of Interest.
Abraham and Szor previously collaborated with Palestinian filmmakers Basel Adra and Hamdan Ballal on No Other Land, a documentary about the Masafer Yatta region that won an award at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2025. At the Oscars, Abraham called for an end to the destruction in Gaza and for the release of Israeli hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7, saying: 'We made this film, Palestinians and Israelis, because together our voices are stronger.'
No Other Land drew criticism in Israel, with Culture and Sport Minister Miki Zohar denouncing its Oscar victory, and others criticizing the film for omitting context and facts.
A second film connected to Israel will screen at Venice this year: veteran Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai will present The Road to Jericho in the Venice Open – Out of Competition section. The French-British-Israeli production follows a journey from Jerusalem toward Jericho and examines the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the legacy of the Oslo process and the situation of the Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar. The Venice Film Festival runs September 2–12.
- The source does not state the specific content or findings of the investigations by +972 Magazine, Local Call, and The Guardian on which NAZA draws.
- The source does not state the runtime or format of NAZA.
- The source does not state whether the Israeli government or military has responded to the content of NAZA specifically.
- The source does not identify which other 20 films are in competition at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival.
- The source does not state the basis for characterizing No Other Land as having omitted context and facts, beyond attributing that view to critics in Israel.
Read the original at The Jerusalem Post