The Gaza war documentary NAZA has crossed $500,000 at the North American box office without a traditional distributor. The investigative film, produced by The Guardian, pulled in $298,240 during an expansion weekend that took it to 85 theaters in 30 cities across the U.S. and Canada. Its cumulative total stands at $504,074, with a per-theater average of $3,508.
NAZA premiered exclusively at the IFC Center in New York before expanding to its current count. The directors have handled distribution themselves.
What NAZA Documents About Gaza
NAZA is an investigative documentary directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor that examines the systems Israel has developed to carry out attacks in Gaza, where Israeli strikes have killed more than 73,000 Palestinians over three years.
The documentary centers on interviews with 24 members of the Israeli Defense Force, conducted secretly on Tel Aviv rooftops with the soldiers’ identities masked. In the interviews, the soldiers discuss alleged war crimes committed in Gaza following Hamas’ killing of more than 1,200 people on Oct. 7, 2023, according to TheWrap.
The film’s title comes from the IDF’s own term for estimated civilian casualties in a given strike. Attacks projected to kill fewer than 20 civilians reportedly require no higher approval within the military chain of command, according to the documentary. The film states that Israeli attacks have killed more than 73,000 Palestinians.
When Abraham asks an IDF member if he believes he participated in a genocide, the soldier responds “yes,” adding, “We killed those children deliberately.”
NAZA builds on reporting by +972 Magazine, Local Call and The Guardian conducted between 2023 and 2025, according to TheWrap.
Distribution Challenges And Self-Release Strategy
Abraham and Szor are not new to independent distribution. In 2025, they self-released the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, made with Palestinian filmmakers Basel Adra and Hamdan Ballal, which documented the destruction of the West Bank community Masafer Yatta.
Self-distribution has not limited the film’s reach. NAZA reached No. 1 at the box office in Italy with an opening weekend of $1.23 million, outperforming the Hollywood re-release Avengers: Endgame Encore. The film has been distributed in 56 countries worldwide.
Political Fallout And Reactions
The release has drawn a political response. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans to introduce legislation stripping Israeli citizenship from Abraham, Szor and any filmmaker who “defames IDF soldiers around the world.”
Abraham and Szor have received threats from far-right activists. More than 1,500 Israeli filmmakers signed a letter of support calling for an end to an “unprecedented campaign of vilification and incitement.”
What’s Next For NAZA
The Guardian will release NAZA for free online in late November, expanding the documentary’s reach beyond its theatrical self-distribution to a global audience.
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