The film title, NAZA, is an acronym used by the intelligence service to indicate the number of civilians it expects to die in an airstrike on Gaza. According to the filmmakers, the Israel Defense Forces often preferred to target Hamas members in their homes at night, even when those individuals lived with families or in densely populated areas. One source cited in the documentary claimed that approval was once granted to kill 500 civilians—referred to as NAZA—in order to target a single Hamas member.
Currently competing for the Golden Lion at the Venice film festival, the documentary builds upon the testimonies of 24 anonymized military and intelligence insiders. Rachel Szor and Yuval Abraham, who previously won an Oscar for their 2024 documentary No Other Land, noted that while their previous work documented crimes in the West Bank, it offered a sense of hope. In contrast, they describe NAZA as a film set in darkness, reflecting the current state of the conflict. The film was executive produced by Jonathan Glazer, director of The Zone of Interest, who supported the filmmakers' approach to depicting a home situated next door to a war zone.
The Gaza health ministry has reported more than 73,000 deaths in three years of Israeli bombardment, with the vast majority identified as civilian casualties. While the film briefly displays the physical destruction, its primary backdrop remains the normalcy of Tel Aviv, located just 44 miles from the conflict. Regarding the motivations of their sources, Abraham suggested that some speak out of pride in their expertise, while others may be driven by the unusual opportunity to discuss their work in sensitive units. The system described in the film is characterized by a series of disconnects, including the use of AI to select targets and drones to drop bombs, which effectively distances the operators from the consequences of their actions.
The filmmakers have faced significant personal and professional risks. Abraham, who has been more vocal, saw his family home targeted by a rightwing mob following the premiere of his previous film. Szor, who prefers to remain behind the camera, noted that some of her own family members have reacted with anger to her work. Despite these pressures, the pair emphasize that their situation is not comparable to that of Palestinian journalists in Gaza, who face extreme danger for their reporting. The Israeli military has "categorically rejected" the allegations made in the documentary, stating that it "makes unprecedented efforts to minimise harm to civilians" and questioning the reliability of anonymous testimonies.
At the Venice premiere, NAZA received a 25-minute ovation. During the official press conference, the filmmakers addressed the patterns of dehumanization and the difficulty of understanding why so few individuals refused to participate in the strikes. Abraham noted that he lacks a clear answer as to why so many took part, observing that when a general atmosphere normalizes death, it becomes easier for individuals to avoid asking questions.
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