The documentary ‘Naza’ topped the Italian box office from its first day of release, taking more than €451,000 despite a campaign by Israeli ministers against its directors after it won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. The ministers accused them of treason over the film’s content concerning the Israeli army’s conduct in Gaza.
‘Naza’ records a record opening in Italy
The film grossed €451,872 on Monday 28 September 2026, averaging €1,153 per screen, according to data from CineTel published by Italy’s Corriere della Sera.
Everything, live from Tor Vergata’, which grossed €145,534. I Wonder Pictures distributed the film to 515 cinemas as part of a three-day event scheduled to run from 28 to 30 September. However, strong demand and sold-out screenings prompted some cinemas to extend its run beyond the scheduled end date.
The directors of ‘Naza’ and the military background to its title
The film was directed by Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham and Israeli filmmaker Rachel Zor, who previously worked with Palestinian directors Basel Adra and Hamdan Ballal on the Oscar-winning film ‘No Other Land’. The title ‘Naza’ comes from a Hebrew military abbreviation used to refer to ‘collateral damage’, the term used in military discourse for civilian deaths during military operations.
The 80-minute film is based on journalistic investigations conducted over three years by +972 Magazine and Local Call, in collaboration with The Guardian. The British newspaper co-produced the film, while British director Jonathan Glazer, director of ‘The Zone of Interest’, served as executive producer.
The film’s main material consists of anonymised testimonies from 24 current and former members of the Israeli military and intelligence services. Abraham and Zor filmed the interviews at night on rooftops in Tel Aviv, concealing the witnesses’ faces and altering their voices to protect their identities.
The film examines mechanisms for targeting civilians
Rather than treating the events it presents as isolated incidents committed by soldiers who disobeyed orders, the film seeks to analyse decision-making mechanisms within the military institution, including how targets are identified and the number of civilians who may be killed in strikes is calculated. During the film’s screening at the Venice Film Festival, Abraham and Zor said they had used their positions as an Israeli journalist and filmmaker to examine the mechanisms behind the killing of Palestinian civilians.
They said their work stemmed from a sense of responsibility for what their country was doing. The directors added that the interviews led them to question how one society could dehumanise another group and how a system permitting this to continue operates. They stressed that the film was not looking for ‘rogue soldiers’, but examining the system itself and the elements that ensure its continuation.
‘Naza’ describes what it documented in the Gaza Strip as genocide, a characterisation its makers say is consistent with conclusions reached by a United Nations committee and human rights organisations. The Venice Film Festival audience applauded the film for about 25 minutes before the jury of the 83rd edition awarded it the Special Jury Prize.
Israeli ministers call for the directors to be punished politically
The screening was followed by an attack from the Israeli government, with ministers describing the film as ‘despicable’ and accusing its directors of treason during wartime. Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar called for Abraham and Zor to have their citizenship revoked. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir described the film as antisemitic and called on the directors to leave Israel.
Press freedom groups and figures from the film industry, meanwhile, condemned calls to strip the directors of their citizenship, describing them as an attempt to punish the pair for journalistic and cinematic work addressing the Israeli army’s conduct in Gaza. The political campaign did not halt the film’s release, as it moved from the Venice Film Festival to the New York Film Festival before beginning a distribution tour covering more than 50 countries.
Abraham and Zor also offered to provide the film free of charge to Israeli cinemas, seeking to make it available to local audiences as it launched worldwide. In a Hebrew-language post on X, Abraham said cinemas’ acceptance of the offer would represent a courageous decision in the face of attempts at censorship and pressure.
He added that there was strong demand in Israel to see the film, expressing hope that audiences would be able to access it in cinemas or online. The Guardian said it was exploring ways to screen ‘Naza’ in the occupied Palestinian territories. It also confirmed that it would make the film available free of charge on its website from November 2026, after the first stage of its cinema distribution had been completed.
The film’s presence thus moved from festival awards and political controversy to the box office, with its Italian screenings extended after several sold out.
