Venice Honors Gaza Film as Israel Threatens Directors’ Citizenship

Venice honours film about Gaza — Israel threatens directors with revocation of citizenship

The Venice Film Festival’s Special Prize for the documentary NAZA, which examines the Israeli army’s actions in Gaza, has sparked a political scandal. Israel’s Minister of Culture, Miki Zoar, stated that he would immediately begin proceedings to strip the directors, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Shor, of their Israeli citizenship, accusing them of ‘treason against the state’. The Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, took an even harsher stance against the filmmakers.

NAZA directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Shore with the Special Jury Prize, presented at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday. Photo: Wang Kaiyan/Xinhua/picture alliance

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The 80-minute film is based on the testimonies of 24 Israeli military personnel and intelligence officers. The filmmakers examine the system for selecting targets in Gaza and the potential consequences of air strikes on the civilian population. The film also examines the use of artificial intelligence-based systems in target selection. The Israeli army rejects the allegations made and criticises the use of anonymous sources.

The premiere of *NAZA* in Venice was one of the festival’s most talked-about events. Following the screening, the film received a 25-minute standing ovation – a record for this year’s festival, according to *The Guardian*. The jury then awarded the film a Special Prize.

Following the award ceremony, Zoar described *NAZA* as a “vile” film and the jury’s decision as “shocking”. In a post on X, he accused the directors of being willing to harm their country for the sake of applause from “anti-Semites around the world” and stated: “As Minister of Culture, I will take immediate action to strip these despicable filmmakers of their Israeli citizenship for treason against the state.”

Ben-Gvir also attacked the directors, calling them a “disgrace” to Israel and claiming that the country’s enemies would welcome them “with open arms”.

For Abraham and Shore, this is not their first international success. Their previous film, *No Other Land*, which focuses on violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinian communities in the West Bank, won an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.

Following Venice, *NAZA* will continue its festival tour – screenings are scheduled in San Sebastián and New York. International acclaim has already turned the film into a political challenge for the Israeli authorities: the directors received an award at one of the world’s leading film festivals, and in response faced the threat of having their citizenship revoked.

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