JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
In a new documentary, two dozen Israeli soldiers involved in the war in Gaza describe what they say is the systematic killing of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli military. The film, "NAZA," was directed by two Israeli filmmakers, and it's received tremendous international acclaim. But in Israel, this film has sparked intense pushback despite the fact that very few people there have actually seen it. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf reports from Tel Aviv.
KAT LONSDORF, BYLINE: When "NAZA" debuted at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month, its two directors, Oscar-winning Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, received a standing ovation...
(APPLAUSE)
LONSDORF: ...For nearly 25 minutes, a new record for the festival. The film's title refers to the euphemistic acronym used by the Israeli military for the Hebrew term...
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "NAZA")
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Nezek agavi.
LONSDORF: ...Or collateral damage, the number of civilians killed in a military attack. In the trailer recently shared online by The Guardian, which also produced the film, Israeli soldiers are interviewed anonymously on rooftops in Tel Aviv under the cover of darkness. The soldiers describe in detail how it became Israeli military policy to accept high levels of civilian casualties in Gaza and that AI was often used in its targeting.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "NAZA")
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Non-English language spoken).
LONSDORF: "Gaza became like a factory," one says, "a factory of targets." The Israeli military has rejected the film's claims and says it makes every effort to, quote, "mitigate harm to civilians." Palestinian health officials say more than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel, most of them civilians, throughout the war, which began after the Hamas-led attack on Israel in 2023. Speaking after the film's debut, codirector Yuval Abraham explained part of the thinking behind such a film made by Israelis interviewing other Israelis.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
YUVAL ABRAHAM: We believe that the denial of a crime is what helps it persists. And that's why it's really, really, especially important for us that Israelis watch this film.
LONSDORF: The film is not widely available yet, including in Israel. Even so, it has rocked the country. Israel's culture minister accused the filmmakers, who haven't been back to Israel since the premiere, of, quote, "treason against the state."
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Non-English language spoken).
LONSDORF: Protesters have gathered outside codirector Szor's parents' house chanting death to traitors.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: (Non-English language spoken).
LONSDORF: And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu introduced legislation to revoke their citizenship. They have no place among us, he said.
In the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, graffiti artist Dudi Shoval remembers watching a video of that standing ovation after the "NAZA" premiere.
DUDI SHOVAL: (Non-English language spoken).
LONSDORF: He says it made him so angry, he grabbed a spray paint and found a wall near a busy road. He painted directors Abraham and Szor as prisoners with the word traitor across it in Hebrew.
SHOVAL: (Non-English language spoken).
LONSDORF: A video he posted online got hundreds of thousands of views and thousands of encouraging comments. Later, someone came and painted the word heroes over top. Shoval then covered that with a new painting altogether, which is what we're standing in front of now as we talk.
SHOVAL: (Non-English language spoken).
LONSDORF: He says he viewed that exchange as a kind of conversation between two artists.
You use this artist as your form of free speech, right?
SHOVAL: Yeah.
LONSDORF: What about - you know, Netanyahu is saying, maybe he'll take the citizenship away from the two filmmakers?
SHOVAL: I think...
LONSDORF: Do they have the same free speech as you?
SHOVAL: I think they cross the line. They up against our people, you know?
BARAK HEYMANN: It's easier for the Israeli Jewish society to cancel the filmmakers and to cancel their film instead of watching the film.
LONSDORF: Barak Heymann is an Israeli documentary filmmaker and 1 of more than 2,000 Israelis who have signed a petition in support of Abraham and Szor. Heymann says Israelis generally don't have to face what's happening in Gaza. The Israeli mainstream media largely hasn't covered the Palestinian suffering there.
HEYMANN: We believe that people should face the reality.
LONSDORF: Heymann hasn't seen the film yet, but he says...
HEYMANN: I don't need to watch "NAZA" in order to defend the right of its filmmakers to show it to the world.
LONSDORF: The film opens in U.S. theaters this week, and Abraham announced on social media that "NAZA" will be released online in November for free, allowing anyone to watch it. He said he's hopeful that the film has broken through what he referred to as a, quote, "wall of indifference" in Israel, backlash and all. It's a positive thing, he wrote. It's healthy. And he says he plans to return to Israel.
Kat Lonsdorf, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.