Venice Film Festival Adds Gaza Documentary to 2026 Competition

The 83rd Venice International Film Festival has selected NAZA, a documentary examining the war in Gaza, for its prestigious Competition lineup. Directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor both behind the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land the film will compete for the festival’s top prize, the Golden Lion, making it the only documentary feature in this year’s main competition.

The world premiere is scheduled for September 10, 2026, during the festival’s run from September 2 to 12. Directors and producers are expected to attend the screening at the Palazzo del Cinema.

NAZA was filmed at night from Tel Aviv rooftops and explores the systems behind civilian deaths in Gaza, drawing on investigative reporting published between 2023 and 2025 by +972 Magazine, Local Call, and The Guardian. The title refers to a military acronym connected to anticipated civilian casualties in airstrikes a concept central to the documentary’s investigation.

The selection reflects Venice’s growing role as a platform for films addressing the Israel-Gaza conflict. Last year’s The Voice of Hind Rajab received the Grand Jury Prize after competing in the festival.

Abraham and Szor previously collaborated on No Other Land, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2025 after documenting the destruction of a Palestinian community in the occupied West Bank. Their new project is produced by The Guardian and James Wilson of JW Films, with Oscar-winning filmmaker Jonathan Glazer serving as executive producer.

NAZA joins a competitive lineup featuring films from Martin McDonagh, Werner Herzog, Florian Zeller, Danny Boyle, Lance Oppenheim, Casey Affleck, and Hirokazu Kore-eda. The documentary stands alone as the only non-fiction feature vying for Venice’s top prize.