‘NAZA’ wins 25-minute ovation at Venice

VENICE: A new documentary examining Israel’s use of artificial intelligence in military operations in Gaza received a 25-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday.

The film, “NAZA,” was made by Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. Both previously won an Oscar for their documentary No Other Land.

The prolonged applause followed the film’s premiere. It is believed to be among the longest ovations recorded at the festival. Last year, another film focused on Gaza received a 23-minute ovation.

For “NAZA”, Abraham and Szor interviewed 24 former Israeli military and intelligence personnel. The participants spoke on condition that their identities would remain protected.

The filmmakers said they wanted those involved to describe their experiences in their own words. Their investigation focused on how military systems were used during the war in Gaza.

The 80-minute documentary features digitally altered voices and faces of the interviewees. Several described the process of identifying and attacking targets as resembling a factory or a video game.

The film’s title refers to a term reportedly used within Israeli intelligence to estimate the number of civilians expected to be killed during an airstrike.

One of the key systems examined in the documentary is reportedly known as “Lavender”. According to the film’s interviewees, the system used large amounts of surveillance data to identify people for potential assassination.

The data allegedly included information related to telephone communications, movements and interactions.

One former system operator described the process as being carried out on a mass scale. Another compared the remote nature of the operations to playing a video game.

The interviewees also spoke about the destruction of civilian homes and alleged disregard for international humanitarian and wartime rules.

Some described what they said was a broader atmosphere of hostility towards Palestinians during the conflict.

The documentary is the result of an investigation lasting almost three years. It is the only documentary competing at this year’s Venice Film Festival.

The film has attracted strong reactions from critics and festival audiences. Several reviews described it as an emotionally intense examination of the Gaza war.

The filmmakers said they hoped the documentary would encourage Western governments to reconsider their support for Israel.

Abraham said pressure from outside countries was important for people in Israel and Palestine who were working for human rights and a political solution.

Israel has rejected accusations that it deliberately targets civilians. Israeli authorities have accused Hamas of operating from densely populated civilian areas.

According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed and wounded since the conflict began in October 2023. The United Nations has described the ministry’s casualty figures as reliable.

Abraham and Szor previously won the Academy Award for “No Other Land”. The film focused on Israeli settler violence and the displacement of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

“NAZA” has been produced by British filmmaker Jim Wilson. The production team also includes filmmaker Jonathan Glazer, whose film The Zone of Interest won an Oscar, and Britain’s Guardian newspaper.

The documentary comes amid growing criticism of Israel’s conduct of the Gaza war within parts of the international entertainment industry.

Last year, “The Voice of Hind Rajab”, a docu-drama about the death of a five-year-old Palestinian girl, received a 23-minute standing ovation at Venice and won the festival’s second prize.

The latest film has added to the festival’s growing focus on the Gaza conflict.