Directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, the documentary NAZA will receive its world premiere at the 83rd Venice Film Festival running from 2 to 12 September 2026. Produced by The Guardian, James Wilson, and Jonathan Glazer, the film examines systems behind military airstrikes in Gaza.
A new documentary exploring Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has secured a coveted spot in the official competition at the Venice International Film Festival. Titled NAZA, the feature-length work stands as the sole documentary competing for the festival’s prestigious Golden Lion at the upcoming 83rd Venice Film Festival running from September 2 to September 12, 2026.
The film is directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, who were among the four co-directors of the 2025 Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land. Production duties for the project are handled by The Guardian alongside James Wilson through JW Films, with Jonathan Glazer serving as executive producer. Wilson and Glazer previously formed the Oscar-winning creative team behind the historical drama The Zone of Interest
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Venice Film Festival Premiere Details and Competition Lineup
Festival organizers added the title to complete the competition section of the 83rd Venice Film Festival. Screenings for the project are scheduled in the Sala Grande at the Palazzo del Cinema on September 10 at 5:15 p.m. Directors Abraham and Szor will attend the event alongside producers, Guardian journalists, and the official delegation.
With this selection, Abraham and Szor join a diverse group of filmmakers making their debut in the Venice competition. Other directors featured alongside them in the lineup include Casey Affleck, Alì Asgari, Danny Boyle, May el-Toukhy, Cédric Kahn, Ilya Khrzhanovsky, Lance Oppenheim, Nicolas Pariser, and Paolo Strippoli.
Investigative Roots and Production Background
The documentary draws directly from years of investigative reporting conducted between 2023 and 2025. This research partnership involved the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972, the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call, and The Guardian, according to reporting detailed by The Guardian.
“Shot at night on the rooftops of Tel Aviv, the film reveals in detail the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.”
Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, Directors
The title itself carries specific military terminology. According to The Guardian, the word is an Israeli military acronym used euphemistically by intelligence personnel to estimate the anticipated civilian death toll resulting from a planned airstrike.
Prior Work and Subsequent Repercussions
The directing team arrives at Venice following widespread critical attention for their previous collaborative project. Their 2025 feature No Other Land—co-directed alongside Basel Adra and Hamdan Ballal—won the Academy Award for best documentary in 2025. Peter Bradshaw, chief film critic for The Guardian, previously characterized that project as a sombre, sobering work
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That recognition was followed by security incidents. Shortly after the Oscar ceremony, co-director Hamdan Ballal was attacked by Israeli settlers and briefly arrested. The incident prompted an apology from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences after the organization initially omitted Ballal and the film from a public statement of support.
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