NAZA documentary on Gaza killings becomes one of year’s most watched

NAZA, the award-winning documentary that details Israel’s mass killing of civilians in Gaza, has been seen by more than ۱.۵ million people since being released in cinemas across the world last month.

The film, which is directed by the Oscar-winning Israeli film-makers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor and produced by the Guardian, has reached a worldwide audience of ۱,۵۴۷,۰۳۳ as of Friday ۶ November, making it one of the most-watched documentary films with a theatrical release in ۲۰۲۶.

NAZA won the Special Jury prize at the Venice film festival in September, where its premiere was met with a record ۲۴.۵ minute standing ovation, and has received widespread critical acclaim. It drew worldwide attention after Israel’s culture minister threatened to strip its directors of their citizenship and prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the identification and prosecution of the film’s interviewees.

After a cinematic run in ۴۷ territories to date, the investigative documentary’s free global streaming release on theguardian.com is now planned for early December, as the Guardian works to prepare the online video release for a large global audience in multiple languages.

The film has already made cinematic history in Italy, where it was released in September. With ۷۱۷,۵۱۷ admissions, NAZA is the third most-watched documentary with a theatrical release of all time in Italy, behind Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit ۹/۱۱ and The March of the Penguins.

Other European regions with a notably large interest in NAZA include the UK and Ireland, where the film has garnered a total ۱۰۲,۵۰۸ admissions so far, and the Benelux, where distributor Cherry Pickers has counted ۱۳۲,۳۲۳ admissions across the three states Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

The film has clocked ۸۳,۶۷۳ admissions across the US and Canada, where it was initially released on ۳۰ September through a self-release model but was picked up in October by distributor Neon. Earlier this month, it won the Critics’ Choice documentary award for best political documentary.

In France, NAZA has been shown in cinemas only over a limited ۴۸-hour period due to the country’s strict rules around films that are also streamed online. The film nonetheless clocked up more than ۸۲,۰۰۰ admissions over nearly ۵۰۰ screenings, ranking top of the box office on both days.

There have been multiple reports of audiences sitting in stunned silence as the film’s credits roll in cinemas. “Rarely does a film screening give way to such silence when the lights come back on,” said a review on Radio France.

In Germany, where the war in Gaza and the government’s support of Israel have sown particularly deep division in the cultural scene, NAZA reached ۸۳,۳۵۵ spectators.