Venice Festival Screens Documentary on Israel’s Systematic Killing of Palestinian Civilians
The Venice Film Festival will feature NAZA, a new documentary by Israeli directors Yuval Avraham and Rachel Shor, known for their Oscar-winning film "No Other Land." The film, scheduled for screening on September 10 at 17:15 in the festival’s main hall, explores what it describes as the systematic mechanisms behind Israel’s mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. NAZA is produced by The Guardian and JW Films, with British-Jewish director and screenwriter Jonathan Glazer serving as executive producer. Glazer previously sparked controversy during his 2024 Oscar acceptance speech by criticizing the use of Jewish identity and the Holocaust to justify the occupation.
Avraham and Shor, alongside Basel Adra and Hamdan Bilal, previously collaborated on "No Other Land," which focused on Palestinian residents of Masafer Yatta in southern Mount Hebron resisting home demolitions and displacement. That film won multiple awards, including the Berlin Festival Prize, Gotham Award, New York Critics Award, European Oscar, and the 2025 Academy Award for Best Documentary. During their Oscar acceptance speech, the filmmakers called for global action to end what they termed the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people and advocated for a political solution respecting equal national rights for both peoples.
In addition to NAZA, the Venice Festival will screen "The Journey to Jericho," a new film by Amos Gitai about the Bedouin tribe of Arab al-Jahalin. This film includes archival interviews with former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin discussing his thoughts on Gaza and Jericho. The Venice Film Festival’s inclusion of these films highlights ongoing international attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through cinematic narratives.
Summary: The Venice Film Festival will screen NAZA, a documentary by Israeli directors Yuval Avraham and Rachel Shor, depicting Israel’s systematic killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. The film, produced with The Guardian and executive produced by Jonathan Glazer, will be shown on September 10. The festival will also feature Amos Gitai’s new film on the Bedouin tribe Arab al-Jahalin, including archival footage of Yitzhak Rabin.
