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Israel's Culture Minister Miki Zohar criticised the Israeli documentary NAZA and announced that he would "act immediately to revoke the Israeli citizenship of its directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor.
Days after winning the Special Jury Prize at the Venice International Film Festival, the directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor have come under scrutiny from ministers in Israel after it alleged the country's calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Israeli Minister Miki Zohar penned a note on his X handle to express his surprise at the victory of the movie at the Venice Film Festival. He described the movie as vile and condemned it as an act of betrayal against the state. According to a translation provided by X, Zohar wrote, "The win of the vile film NZA at the Venice Festival is shocking. The self-loathing that burns in the creators, who are willing to harm their homeland just to get applause from antisemites around the world, is inconceivable and constitutes a betrayal of the state. This is exactly the reason I led the important reform in cinema so that Israeli citizens will no longer have to pay from their own pockets for the harm to IDF soldiers and the State of Israel. As Minister of Culture, I will act immediately to revoke the Israeli citizenship of these despicable creators for betraying the state." https://x.com/zoharm7/status/2099198560675791326? NAZA, a late addition to the competition lineup in Venice, received a record 25-minute standing ovation at its premiere there. On Saturday night, it won the festivals Special Jury Prize. The film is directed by Israeli Jews Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, two of the four directors of the Oscar-winning documentary 'No Other Land'. According to Deadline, in the documentary, director Abraham appears on camera, interviewing his subjects on the rooftop; they explain that NAZA is a Hebrew acronym used by the Israel Defence Forces to signify collateral damage, an acceptable loss of civilian life incurred while trying to kill suspected Hamas militants. The film suggests the number of NAZA considered acceptable in each attack was elastic. In some cases, it would be under a dozen, but in others it could be 200 or even 500 people deemed permissible collateral damage, according to Israeli military personnel interviewed in the film, as reported by Deadline. The documentary was shot in secrecy at night on the rooftops of Tel Aviv and features revelatory interviews with 24 Israeli military intelligence officers and soldiers. (ANI)
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