NAZA, the Israel–Gaza war documentary, has set plans for a global theatrical release from Sept. 28 after picking up the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.
The film from No Other Land directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor will have a North American premiere at the New York Film Festival on Saturday, to be followed by a theatrical release starting Oct. 9 in the U.S. and now a global rollout.
“We made this film out of a sense of obligation to use our position as Israelis to examine the systems behind the mass killing of Palestinian civilians for which our country is responsible. The threats from the Israeli government to revoke our citizenship and the death threats do not change that and will not stop the film. We thank our colleagues for the solidarity and look forward to sharing NAZA all over the world very soon,” Abraham and Szor said in a statement.
For the film’s international release coming hot on the heels of the Venice premiere, The Guardian and partner mk2 Films have inked deals with theatrical distributors in 56 territories. Those markets include The Middle East, France, Canada, UK, Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Brazil and Central America.
After the theatrical run globally, NAZA, executive produced by Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest) and featuring testimony from 24 Israeli military officers outlining the systems and protocols they allege Israel uses to target and kill Palestinian civilians in Gaza, will stream on The Guardian website, for free.
The film’s title, NAZA, comes from an acronym the Israeli military uses as a shorthand for civilian casualties. The film’s producers said the documentary has been offered to a number of distributors and cinemas in Israel, and The Guardian was looking for ways to allow the film to be seen in Gaza and the West Bank. NAZA is produced by The Guardian and JW Films.
Harry Davies, a Guardian investigations correspondent and a NAZA producer, in his own statement said: “NAZA is grounded in rigorous journalism published over the past three years, but it is also a powerful piece of cinema that will soon be available on screens, large and small, around the world. The initial response from those who’ve seen it shows audiences are engaging deeply with the urgent questions the film raises. We’re working with MK2 and international partners to bring the film to global audiences as soon as possible.”
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