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Venice Adds 'NAZA' to Main Competition

The synopsis accuses systems of enabling mass civilian deaths in Gaza, highlighting reporting about an alleged AI-assisted targeting tool.

Overview

  • Festival organisers announced on Monday, August 24 that NAZA will join the Venice main Competition as the only feature documentary among 21 contenders.
  • The film is directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, two of the co‑directors of the Oscar-winning No Other Land, and is produced by The Guardian and James Wilson with Jonathan Glazer as executive producer.
  • The official synopsis says NAZA “reveals in detail the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” language that foregrounds investigative reporting used as the film’s basis.
  • Reporting cited by the film includes allegations about an AI system called Lavender that reportedly produced extensive target lists with limited human vetting, a claim Israeli military sources denied at the time.
  • NAZA will have its world premiere in Sala Grande on Sept. 10 with the directors, producers and Guardian journalists in attendance, a screening likely to draw heightened public and political scrutiny given Venice’s recent contests over films about the IsraelPalestine conflict.