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The Gaza documentary “NAZA” made its North American premiere at the New York Film Festival to a massive standing ovation for co-directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor
who gave a brief Q&A with festival director Dennis Lim after the screening. Journalist and co-director Abraham told the crowd, many of whom were still drying their eyes after bearing witness in the documentary to footage of the destruction of Gaza, that it was essential to play “NAZA” at NYFF because the U.S. is responsible for funding billions to the Israeli government and supplying military aid, which is being used against the Palestinian people.
“It’s important for us to see this film at this moment, as you were saying, because these older officials are talking about what is being done with taxpayer money from people sitting here,” said Abraham, who was met with cheers of approval from the audience. “This is what your country is supporting and funding… Part of the goal is to make denial of what’s going on in Gaza harder.”
“NAZA” first premiered at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month, where it won a special jury prize and received a record-breaking 24.5-minute standing ovation. The documentary was shot at night on the rooftops of Tel Aviv and shows “in detail the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.” It is now set to release in more than 50 territories before becoming available to stream for free on The Guardian’s website.
Since its premiere, the directors have come under fire from a number of Israeli officials — Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for the introduction of a law that would “revoke the citizenship of anyone who slanders IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] soldiers” following the film’s debut, while Israel’s Minister of Culture threatened to revoke the filmmaker’s Israeli citizenship.
Outside the festival screening, the Israeli-American Council organized a more than 50-person protestagainst the film, which they described as “anti-Israel,” and said “makes serious allegations about the IDF’s conduct in the Gaza Strip while ignoring findings and information that contradict its claims.” Those in attendance gathered by LED trucks that projected footage from October 7 and portraits of those who were killed that day.
“It’s completely unjustified, the massacre of October 7th,” said Abraham during the Q&A. “But it also cannot justify what you’ve seen. Does it justify the slaughter of so many civilians in Gaza?”
