‘NAZA’: Gaza Documentary Wins Venice Prize, Screens in 56 Countries Before Free Guardian Streaming

“NAZA,” the documentary about killings in Gaza that won a special jury prize at the Venice Film Festival, is heading to theaters in more than 50 countries before it goes free online through The Guardian. The Guardian produced the film with JW Films and executive producer Jonathan Glazer, and it has secured theatrical distribution via French sales company MK2 in 56 territories.

The film documents the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. It was shot at night on the rooftops of Tel Aviv over the past three years. The Guardian said the film “shows in detail the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.” It premieres in cinemas worldwide on Sept. 28.

The Theatrical Run

Beginning Sept. 30, the U.S. rollout commences solely at the IFC Center in New York City. The Guardian and MK2 have brought together a group of U.S. and international partners and advisers to get the film before audiences as soon as feasible.

Between Sept. 28-30, “NAZA” will run for three days across 500 Italian screens through I Wonder distribution. Distributors and cinemas in Israel have also received offers for the film.

Other methods of making the film accessible in the occupied Palestinian territories are under examination by The Guardian.

How the Film Was Made

“NAZA” builds on reporting from the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972, the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call and The Guardian itself. The reporting spanned 2023 to 2025.

Directors Abraham and Szor said in a statement that they made the film “out of a sense of obligation to use our position as Israeli filmmakers and journalists to examine the systems behind the mass killing of Palestinian civilians for which our country is responsible.” They noted that while filming members of Israel’s military on rooftops at night in Tel Aviv over the past three years, they found themselves asking “the very questions that were asked by our grandparents’ generation and throughout the 20th century: how does one group of people allow the total dehumanization of another? What do the inner workings of such a system look like?”

Many of the film’s revelations were published almost immediately as the directors learned of them, in the months following the Oct. 7 attacks, by The Guardian (one of “NAZA’s” producers), in collaboration with reporting partners +972 Magazine and Local Call. The directors added that the film lets them 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.”

Territories With Deals

A great many nations have already taken up distribution rights for the film, and here is a partial account of those confirmed markets:

The Guardian has arranged to pair serious cinema with wide availability. Once the theatrical run ends, the film will appear on the website of The Guardian for free viewing by audiences around the world. This is an inventive arrangement for a documentary on a solemn topic.

The directors want the silence broken.

Source material: “Gaza Documentary ‘NAZA’ Set for Global Release Via Innovative Distribution Model That Will Involve Free Viewing Online Following Theatrical Outing,” Variety.

Documentary · free streaming · Gaza · NAZA · theatrical release