A new documentary described as ‘devastating’ has earned the longest-ever standing ovation at Venice Film Festival, setting a new record with an eye-watering 25 minutes of clapping.

NAZA, directed by Oscar-winning No Other Land filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, took the Lido by storm on Thursday night – fittingly while rain was pouring – just as the festival began to wind down ahead of its closing ceremony on Saturday.

Shot on Tel Aviv’s rooftops at night, the film claims to expose ‘the systems behind Israel’s planned mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza’, according to its synopsis, via testimonies from anonymous intelligence personnel and soldiers involved.

‘Naza’, a term used by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) and coming from the Hebrew phrase Nezek Agavi, means ‘collateral damage’ – or an indication of the number of civilians expected to be killed in an airstrike.

The Israeli directors remained solemn amid the outpouring of congratulations and applause for NAZA, given its subject matter, in contrast to the usual emotional displays during premieres at Venice’s Sala Grande.

Palestinian flags were also unfurled by audience members as the lights came up after the documentary, produced by The Guardian and James Wilson, finished.

Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor look drawn and solemn amid strong applause for Golden Lion Contender ‘NAZA’ exposing Israeli targeting of civilians in Gaza #VeniceFilmFestival pic.twitter.com/hqyzoZhwHM

— Deadline (@DEADLINE) September 10, 2026

NAZA’s 25-minute ovation overtakes the record set last year by docudrama The Voice of Hind Rajab, which earned just shy of a 24-minute ovation. It follows Palestine Red Crescent Society dispatchers and first responders in a reconstruction of the killing of six-year-old Hind Rajab under Israeli fire in Gaza in January 2024.

It also outstrips the current recordholder from Cannes, the other festival known for its palm-punishing ovations, which is Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth after it managed 22 minutes at its 2006 premiere.

Next Best Picture hailed NAZA ‘engrossing’ and ‘essential viewing’, while The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw said it was ‘casting a chilling light on what is happening now in Gaza’.

Screen International called it ‘an urgent, gut-punch doc’, while Variety described it as ‘unflinching’ and ‘devastating’.

NAZA is comfortably ahead of other notable ovations during the 2026 edition, which include psychological relationship drama Bunker with Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem on 16 minutes, and Martin McDonagh’s 1970s CIA Easter Island caper Wild Horse Nine with 14 minutes.

Before NAZA’s late addition to the 21 films in official competition for Venice’s prestigious Golden Lion, Venice had faced backlash for having only one film in that number directed by a female filmmaker – post-WW2 drama Woman Unknown from May el-Toukhy.

Jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal, whose Marilyn Monroe short film Flesh Impact also screened, had addressed this inequality at the opening press conference, saying she believed there was ‘a systemic problem’.

‘It’s much harder for women to get their films financed,’ she commented. ‘Also, could it be possible that the things that women, having had a different experience of being alive in the world, want to make movies about are not always deemed high art?’

Other films in competition this year include Robert Pattinson’s Primetime, newspaper drama Ink directed by Danny Boyle, Netflix’s South Korean awards hopeful Possible Love and off-beat twin thriller Bucking Fastard, with real-life sisters Kate and Rooney Mara.

NAZA premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 10. It is yet to announce a UK release date.

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