The devastating documentary NAZA premiered at the Venice Film Festival as a late addition to the competition lineup, ultimately winning the festival’s Special Jury Prize. Shot under cover of night on Tel Aviv rooftops, the film employs silhouettes and digitally altered voices to protect the identities of its 24 Israeli military intelligence officers and soldiers who serve as anonymous whistleblowers.

These participants, risking imprisonment in Israel for their revelations, share chilling details of a program they claim has led to catastrophic destruction and massive civilian casualties in Gaza, including women and children.

Directed by Israeli Jews Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, who also co-directed the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, NAZA delves into the meaning of its title—a Hebrew acronym (Nezek Agavi) used by the Israel Defense Forces to denote 'collateral damage.' This term, the film suggests, represented an 'acceptable loss' of civilian life in efforts to target suspected Hamas militants. Interviewees indicate that the permissible number of 'NAZA' was flexible, ranging from under a dozen to potentially hundreds of lives per attack.

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The documentary highlights a prevalent attitude among some IDF soldiers, as described by sources, that viewed Palestinian civilians as expendable. Common refrains reportedly included, "We need to erase Gaza… They deserve it," and "There are no innocent people in Gaza."

Whistleblowers detail how Israeli military intelligence allegedly made deliberate choices to attack residential targets in Gaza during the night, believing it increased the likelihood of hitting a suspected Hamas target at home with their family. They describe vast surveillance capabilities, including tracking cell phones, with one interviewee claiming, "We can activate every sensor on the phone," and another recounting, "I heard the final moments of someone’s life."

Perhaps the most alarming revelation is the claim that Israeli intelligence utilized an AI system, dubbed the 'Lavender program,' to identify human targets. This program, previously reported by +972 Magazine and Local Call, with additional reporting by The Guardian (a producer of NAZA), allegedly identified up to 70,000 human targets.

Filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor

In response to the film, an IDF spokesperson categorically rejected these allegations, stating that decisions regarding strikes are made by human personnel, not AI, and are in accordance with international law. The spokesperson, who had not seen the film but cited unspecified "publications," questioned the veracity of anonymous testimonies, their service in the IDF, and their capacity to comment on national and military strategy.

Despite the IDF's statement that it makes "unprecedented efforts to minimize harm to civilians," the Gaza Ministry of Health reports over 73,000 Palestinians killed and more than 173,000 wounded since Israel's military retaliation following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.

Further allegations from NAZA's interviewees include Israeli snipers deliberately firing on hungry Palestinians at food distribution sites, drone footage showing dogs eating the corpses of victims, and a political unit of Israeli military intelligence allegedly spying on Palestinian war crime victims to collect compromising material. This tactic, one source called "peace thwarting," aimed to discredit anyone who might publicly accuse the IDF.

The film captures a range of emotions from the interviewees, some hinting at remorse, while others frame their actions as merely completing a mission, with one exclaiming, "It’s so insanely fun to carry out a mission."

Filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, along with executive producer Jonathan Glazer, weave moments of broader critique into the narrative. Scenes depict Israelis observing Holocaust Remembrance Day and a tribute to Claude Lanzmann, director of the Holocaust film Shoah, subtly drawing parallels to how ordinary people might ignore atrocities. In their directors' statement, Abraham and Szor emphasize, "The film lets us explore something deeper than we could in our investigative journalism alone: not only the words being said but also those that are not said, the silence. It is up to all of us to break that silence."

L-R EP Jonathan Glazer, director Rachel Szor, director Yuval Abraham, producer James Wilson, EP Paul Lewis, co-producer Ekaterina Ochagavia, and EP Harriet Gugenheim attend the ‘NAZA’ premiere at Venice Film Festival.

Film Details:

  • Title: NAZA
  • Festival: Venice (In Competition)
  • Directors: Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor
  • Production companies: The Guardian, JW Films, Placeholder Films, Unseen Hand
  • Sales agent: mk2
  • Running time: 1 hr. 20 minutes