Gaza Documentary NAZA, From Oscar-Winning Directors, Added to Venice Competition
A documentary about Israel's bombing campaign in Gaza will receive its world premiere at the 83rd Venice Film Festival on 10 September 2026, after the festival added it to its main competition lineup. The film, titled NAZA, is the only documentary competing this year for the Golden Lion, the festival's top prize (La Biennale di Venezia; The Guardian).
NAZA is directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor — two of the four film-makers behind No Other Land, which won the Academy Award for best documentary in 2025. That film, co-directed with Basel Adra and Hamdan Ballal, premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and chronicled life under Israeli occupation in the West Bank (Variety; The Guardian).
The title carries its own weight. NAZA is an Israeli military acronym used euphemistically by intelligence officials to denote the number of civilians they expect will be killed in a given airstrike (The Guardian).
The film-makers say NAZA was shot at night on the rooftops of Tel Aviv and reveals in detail the systems behind Israel's bombing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. It builds on original investigative reporting published between 2023 and 2025 by the Israeli-Palestinian outlet +972, the Hebrew-language site Local Call, and the Guardian (The Guardian).
The Guardian produced the documentary, with Jim Wilson as producer and Jonathan Glazer as executive producer — the same team behind The Zone of Interest, Glazer's 2023 Holocaust drama that won the Academy Award for best international feature (The Guardian). Rachel Szor is credited as both film-maker and cinematographer (The Guardian press office).
The Hollywood Reporter describes the film as a documentary exploring Israeli military killings of Palestinian civilians in Gaza (The Hollywood Reporter).
The path to this premiere carries its own history. Shortly after No Other Land's Oscar win in March 2025, co-director Hamdan Ballal was attacked by Israeli settlers and briefly arrested. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences later apologised after a statement of support for Ballal failed to name him or the film (The Guardian).
Venice's decision to place a single documentary in competition for the Golden Lion is unusual. The festival typically reserves its main slate for narrative fiction, making NAZA's inclusion a notable programming choice by artistic director Alberto Barbera's selection committee.
The 83rd Venice Film Festival runs from 2 to 12 September 2026. NAZA screens on 10 September.
