Gaza film NAZA vies for Venice Golden Lion

Israeli-made Gaza documentary “NAZA” was among the leading contenders for the Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion on Saturday, after a competition marked by films about war, corruption, inequality and moral compromise.

“NAZA”, by Oscar winners Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, features testimony from 24 Israeli whistleblowers whose identities were digitally altered. The film presents first-hand accounts of AI-powered bombing in Gaza, where 73,500 people have been killed since October 2023, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there.

The film received a 25-minute standing ovation at its premiere on Thursday and was the highest-scored film by international critics, according to film magazine Screen. The Israeli military criticised the use of anonymous testimonies, saying the identities of the whistleblowers “cannot be verified”.

Other well-received films in contention included South Korean director Lee Chang-dong's relationship study “Possible Love” and Martin McDonagh's dark comedy “Wild Horse Nine”, starring John Malkovich as a jaded CIA agent on Easter Island in Chile ahead of the 1973 American-backed military coup there.

The competition also included “DAU”, about Soviet nuclear scientist Lev Landau, Danny Boyle's “Ink”, about Britain's The Sun tabloid newspaper, and “Primetime”, starring Robert Pattinson as a paedophile-hunting TV presenter.

Danish-Egyptian director May el-Toukhy's “Woman Unknown” was the only feature film directed by a woman in competition. Japan's Hirokazu Kore-eda presented “Look Back”, an adaptation of a manga about two schoolgirls who dream of becoming manga artists.

The Golden Lion jury was headed by US actress-director Maggie Gyllenhaal. The closing ceremony was due to start in Venice at 7 pm local time.