At a sold-out IFC Center screening of NAZA, the theater stayed hushed until the final credit. The documentary assembles testimony from two dozen former Israeli soldiers and intelligence officers who describe participating in grave crimes in Gaza, including chilling accounts such as bombing being insanely fun and snipers firing at starving people near aid sites. One attendee, Roland Lewis, reflected, I couldnt stop thinking about the Nuremberg trials. Another viewer, a retired lawyer, said, I wanted to leave ten minutes in, calling it the hardest thing Ive ever seen.
Surging viewership and polarizing reception
NAZA is pressing forward with a U.S. theatrical rollout and recently topped the Italian box office, surpassing Avengers: Endgame. In late November, it is slated to stream for free on The Guardians website. The momentum is drawing passionate advocacy: Caro Claire Burke, author of Yesteryear, purchased all 1 p.m. showings at IFC for a week to distribute tickets without charge, writing that it changed my understanding of what art can and should do. The film also drew a standing ovation lasting 25 minutes at the Venice Film Festival.
Backlash has escalated in parallel. Critics from both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine camps want the anonymous interviewees namedeither to face prosecution for war crimes or for treason. The Israeli directors, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, have been attacked for presenting the story from inside their society; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to pursue legal changes in Israel to revoke their citizenship, and a mural appeared in Israel with crosshairs beside their faces. The IDF issued a statement alleging substantial factual errors and disputed claims about AI-generated kill lists attributed to a system known as Lavender, emphasizing that human intelligence officers are involved in targeting decisions.
From the cinema to The Hague?
International-law scholar Kevin Jon Heller says South Africa is expected to revise its 750-page filing in its ICJ genocide case to include testimonies from the film, though anonymity may limit their weight even as corroboration could enhance it. The IDF has asked the security agency Shin Bet to investigate the anonymous sources; The Guardian, which produced the film, says attorneys and editors verified their identities. NAZA dwells on proportionality (its title is an acronym for the Hebrew words for collateral damage ), relaying ratios officers say were used to approve strikes1 deaths for a single low-level Hamas fighter in some instances, and one account claiming authorization to kill as many as 500 civilians. Heller noted, I dont think theres any military in the world other than Israel that would say you can kill 20 civilians for any Hamas fighter. The IDF denies authorizing casualties at either level.
Proving disproportionality is exceedingly rare; the article cites only one successful conviction on those grounds, against Bosnian Serb commander Stanislav Gali7. Meanwhile, at the ICC, Benjamin Netanyahu faces several charges, including for using starvation as warfare and intentionally attacking civilians. Inside the theater, the films final notes linger: one officer says psychologists were offered to soldiers but there was no need. He felt no remorse.
Vía vulture.com
