Artists must be free: Film industry rallies behind 'NAZA' directors

Film-makers and festival chiefs around the world have rallied behind Israeli directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor after Israel's culture minister threatened to revoke their citizenship over their documentary "NAZA".

Culture Minister Miki Zohar made the threat after the film won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday (12 September). In a post on X, Zohar accused the directors of "treason against the state" and said they were seeking to harm Israel to gain international recognition, reports The Guardian.

"NAZA", an 80-minute documentary produced by The Guardian, examines Israel's military targeting systems in Gaza and the role of artificial intelligence in military operations.

The film features interviews with 24 Israeli military and intelligence personnel who discuss systems used to identify and target people in Gaza. Its title refers to an Israeli intelligence term used to estimate the number of civilians expected to be killed in an airstrike.

The documentary draws on investigations published by +972 Magazine, Local Call and The Guardian between 2023 and 2025.

The film reportedly received a 25-minute standing ovation at Venice before winning the Special Jury Prize.

Zohar later said he would take steps to revoke the directors' Israeli citizenship, accusing them of damaging their country and betraying the state.

The remarks prompted condemnation from prominent figures in the international film industry.

Julie Huntsinger, artistic director of the Telluride Film Festival, said documentary makers play an important role in helping audiences understand the world and described threats to the directors' citizenship as unacceptable.

The heads of the Locarno Film Festival also expressed support for Abraham and Szor, defending the right of film-makers to address difficult subjects without fear of retaliation. They said artistic and journalistic freedom were central to cinema.

Berlin Film Festival director Tricia Tuttle also backed the directors, saying artists should be free to examine the world critically. She said democratic societies should respond to controversial art through debate and scrutiny rather than intimidation or state punishment.

More than 1,500 Israeli film-makers have also signed a petition supporting Abraham and Szor.

The petition, signed by prominent figures including Liran Atzmor, Nadav Lapid, Orna Ben Dor, Netalie Braun, Rani Blair, Hagai Levi, Shai Carmeli-Pollak and Shlomi Elkabetz, rejects accusations that the directors sought to damage Israel's international standing.

It also warns that the campaign against the film-makers has become increasingly threatening and could encourage violence against them.

Laura Poitras, the Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker and a consultant on "NAZA", defended the film, saying it was based on facts previously reported by The Guardian and supported by multiple sources.

US photographer and activist Nan Goldin, British director Richard Eyre and novelist and screenwriter Hanif Kureishi have also expressed support for the directors.

Abraham and Szor previously won the documentary Oscar in 2025 for "No Other Land", which they made with Palestinian co-directors Basel Adra and Hamdan Ballal. The film examined Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank.

Following the Oscar victory, a right-wing mob targeted Abraham's family home. He later told The Guardian that the incident had deeply affected his family.

The controversy surrounding "NAZA" has renewed debate over the treatment of film-makers who criticise government policy.

Tuttle herself faced pressure earlier this year after film-makers condemned Israel's actions against Palestinians during the Berlin Film Festival's closing awards ceremony. Hundreds of film-makers from around the world, including Israelis, subsequently backed her.

"NAZA" is scheduled to screen at the San Sebastián and Bologna film festivals before its North American premiere at the New York Film Festival, where it has been selected for the main slate later this month.

The controversy comes amid the continuing Gaza war, which began after the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel. The original report said more than 1,200 people were killed in the attacks and 251 people were taken hostage to Gaza.

It also reported that Israeli attacks had killed more than 73,000 Palestinians and injured more than 174,000, citing figures available at the time.

The directors' work, including "NAZA" and "No Other Land", has placed them at the centre of an increasingly heated debate over Israel's conduct in Gaza, artistic freedom and the limits of criticism during wartime.