Anonymous sources, but the audience applauds on the basis of trust. “Naza” continues

The public wants “Naza”. Audiences want to see Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor’s film about Israeli atrocities in Gaza. They are clamouring for it, or so it seems. It was scheduled to run for a few days—the quiet days for box-office takings, at the start of the week for three consecutive weeks. Instead, “due to increased demand,” it will be extended. Until it becomes part of the regular schedule—so the distributors hope. This sort of film does not usually pull in big numbers, but here we might have an exception. For reasons not entirely cinematic.

Twenty-five minutes of applause at the Venice Film Festival marked the start of the popular uprising. The other Middle Eastern drama, entitled ‘La voce di Hind Rajab’, directed by the Tunisian director and screenwriter Kawthar ibn Haniyya, received slightly less last year. Such running times do not even seem possible without a few members of the audience fainting – but who would dare to faint at such a juncture? In ‘Naza’, there are no little girls on screen. The young Palestinians are merely evoked: their loving fathers – members or supporters of Hamas – return home to sleep, the Israelis open fire, and some collateral damage is expected, factored in, even calculated. This takes place, it is worth remembering, after 7 October 2023. Women, children and the elderly died in the massacre on Israeli soil: some were living in kibbutzim, others were dancing at a music festival. Many were kidnapped and tortured; not all of them returned home. The Israeli government and army refused to turn the other cheek. They did everything in their power to track down the perpetrators and punish them.

These are the premises. It should also be noted that Hamas enjoys considerable popular support. Not everyone wears a uniform, nor do they sleep in barracks. In the evening they return home to their wives and children: their dearest loved ones, but also their main source of protection. The observation may seem cynical, but it accurately describes the situation. Hamas supporters sleep at home in the evenings, and it is in their own homes that they are hunted down. Since the directors – both Israeli – are determined to make this act of war seem unacceptable, they show numerous well-lit family interiors in Tel Aviv. These serve to send a shiver down the spine of the viewer, who naturally identifies with them. Meanwhile, the same viewer watches ‘talking heads’ on a dark terrace… Barely lit, they explain military operations. When a militant or a sympathiser needs to be identified, a diagram of the house is drawn, showing the points of attack. And, of course, the collateral damage is calculated: family members, visiting friends, children who are already dreaming of war against their age-old enemy.

Israeli army personnel are listening in on conversations – all mobile phones have been hacked. And they are calculating the number of potential collateral casualties. This does not seem like a particularly serious aggravating factor in times of war. ‘Naza’, which received the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival (another standing ovation), is presented by the directors as a documentary. However, none of the interviewees are named, for their own safety. Therefore, viewers are asked to accept the film’s content at face value, trusting both the anonymous interviewees and the filmmakers. Well-behaved audiences typically refrain from asking questions; well-behaved audiences applaud.