Venice: A chilling new documentary investigating Israel’s AI powered targeted strikes in Gaza received an unprecedented 25 minute standing ovation at its Venice Film Festival premiere on Thursday. Directed by Oscar winning Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, NAZA sets what is believed to be a new festival record, surpassing last year's 23 minute ovation for The Voice of Hind Rajab.
The 80 minute film the sole documentary in competition at this year's festival draws its name from an Israeli intelligence euphemism representing the expected civilian casualties associated with a single airstrike. The result of a three year investigation supported by The Guardian and produced by Jim Wilson alongside Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest), the film relies on first person testimonies from 24 Israeli military and intelligence whistleblowers whose identities, faces, and voices were digitally altered.
The interviewees describe an AI system known as 'Lavender' that processes mass telecommunications surveillance data to mark individuals for assassination, with former operators likening the automated targeting process to working in a "killing factory" or playing a "lethal video game." Addressing the audience in Venice, Abraham urged Western nations to apply diplomatic pressure and sanctions on Israel, emphasising that international inaction undermines internal efforts fighting for human rights and political solutions.
