NAZA had its North American premiere at the New York Film Festival to a massive standing ovation.
Co-directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor took part in a brief Q&A with festival director Dennis Lim.
Abraham linked the documentary to US funding and military aid to Israel during the post-screening discussion.
'This Is What Your Country Is Supporting': At NYFF, NAZA Co-Director Slams US Support For ‘Funding’ Israel’s War
The film had earlier premiered at Venice, where it won a special jury prize and received a 24.5-minute standing ovation
Summary
The Gaza documentary NAZA had its North American debut at the New York Film Festival and drew a standing ovation. Many viewers were still wiping away tears after seeing images of Gaza’s destruction. Co-directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor then took part in a short Q&A with festival director Dennis Lim after the screening.
Gaza documentary draws ovation at NYFF
Abraham tied the film to US policy and Israel’s war effort. As per a report in Variety, he said NYFF needed to screen NAZA because Washington is sending billions of dollars to the Israeli government and supplying military aid used against Palestinians.
“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,” Abraham said, drawing cheers from the crowd. “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.”
He also said that the massacre of October 7 is “completely unjustified”.
He then drew a direct distinction between that attack and Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. “But it also cannot justify what you’ve seen. Does it justify the slaughter of so many civilians in Gaza?” he said.
NAZA festival run and Israeli backlash
NAZA opened at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month and took a special jury prize. The screening also drew a 24.5-minute standing ovation, the longest on record there.
Filming took place at night on Tel Aviv rooftops. The documentary shows “in detail the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.”
The film is now heading to a wider rollout. It will open in more than 50 territories before The Guardian makes it available to stream free on its website.
Since the film premiered, several Israeli officials have attacked the directors.
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After the film opened, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for a law that would “revoke the citizenship of anyone who slanders IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] soldiers”. Israel’s Minister of Culture also threatened to revoke the filmmaker’s Israeli citizenship.
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