Festival chiefs back NAZA directors after citizenship threat
Festival leaders across Europe have rallied behind Israeli directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor after Israel's culture minister threatened to revoke their citizenship over their Gaza documentary NAZA.
The statements of support followed the film's win of the special jury prize at the Venice film festival in September 2026, according to The Guardian. The response was swift. Within days, directors of four major festivals had issued public backing for the pair.
NAZA is an 80-minute documentary produced by the Guardian and directed by Abraham and Szor. The title comes from an acronym used by Israel's intelligence service to indicate how many civilians it expects to die in an airstrike on Gaza.
The film is built around interviews with 24 Israeli military or intelligence soldiers and officers about AI-powered targeting systems used to bombard Gaza. It builds on revelations first published by +972 Magazine, Local Call and the Guardian between 2023 and 2025. The Guardian and the Venice International Film Festival had announced the worldwide premiere of the film in August, according to the Guardian's press office.
At Venice, where the jury was headed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, NAZA received a 25-minute standing ovation at its premiere, described as a festival record. Abraham gave an acceptance speech after the win, footage of which was published on 13 September 2026. The film is now scheduled for its North American premiere — its first screening for audiences in the United States and Canada — at the New York film festival later in September 2026.
The backlash came from culture minister Miki Zohar. He wrote on X that he will act immediately to revoke the citizenship of Abraham and Szor for treason against the state. He accused the pair of being willing to harm their homeland to receive applause from antisemites around the world. He separately described the film as "vile" after its Venice recognition, according to Al Jazeera.
Julie Huntsinger, artistic director of the Telluride film festival, said threatening the film-makers' citizenship standing is unacceptable. The heads of the Locarno film festival said they stand firmly in support of film-makers' right to pursue difficult subjects without fear of reprisal.
Tricia Tuttle, director of the Berlin film festival — known as the Berlinale — said the Berlinale stands with Abraham and Szor. The directors of the San Sebastian film festival said they stand in solidarity with the film-makers, saying NAZA exposes the systematic genocide of the Palestinian people by the Israeli government.
Abraham and Szor won the documentary Oscar in 2025 for No Other Land, about Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank. In an interview with El País, published on 14 September 2026, the pair said that life in Tel Aviv going on as if nothing was happening is also an act of violence.
