'NAZA' wins acclaim while Fauda’s more complex Israel struggles for recognition - comment
NAZA’s Venice success may infuriate Israelis, but outrage alone will not counter its allegations. Israel needs evidence, context, and a rapid response before its claims become accepted truth.
Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor have been enjoying a wave of acclaim lately. In 2025, they shared an Oscar with Palestinian filmmakers Basel Adra and Hamdan Ballal for No Other Land, a documentary portraying Israel at its worst in the West Bank. Their latest work, NAZA, has been lauded at the Venice Film Festival with a Special Jury Prize, showcasing a darker side of Israel - one that engages in the systematic killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
The film has garnered a 25-minute standing ovation at its Venice premiere, but this celebration may be more for the audience's virtue signaling than the film's merit. On the other hand, the complex storytelling of Fauda, the fifth season of which was released worldwide on Netflix, has earned global praise, reaching the top 10 in many Middle Eastern countries.
Unlike NAZA, Fauda does not present the conflict in a black-and-white manner, highlighting the complexities and moral dilemmas faced by the Israeli soldiers during the October 7 attacks. Despite its critical acclaim, Fauda's message of complexity is not as widely received by the cultural world, which seems to prefer portrayals of Israel as the villain oppressing Palestinians.
Written by urgent.news from Jerusalem Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
