NAZA has just gained a powerful American cinematic ally as it looks to continue its box office momentum.
Neon is coming on board to distribute Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor’s documentary about the Israeli military in Gaza, with the Oscar-winning studio now releasing the film in theaters. The company will provide advertising support, theater bookings, P&A funds and other resources, as it does with all of its acquisitions, according to sources.
The decision of one of the most renowned studios operating today to acquire the rights to NAZA gives the whistleblower document a strong artistic stamp of approval. It also gave a financial boost to what was already a robust independent release. NAZA raked in nearly $900,000 in less than two weeks in North American theaters, adding to its total of more than $6.5 million overseas. Neon said in a statement that it will “work with filmmakers to expand its footprint and reach broader audiences and communities.”
The film had not yet had a traditional distributor, with the production entities – which included The guardian and international sales company MK2 – which is putting it in cinemas themselves. Neon representatives say they have been talking with the people behind the film (including director Jonathan Glazer and his producing partner James Wilson) about a potential deal since an enthusiastic screening at the New York Film Festival last month.
In the documentary, Abraham interviews around twenty IDF soldiers involved in the Israeli war in Gaza, drawing on pieces he made for The guardian and other publications. The filmmaker speaks to soldiers anonymously and from the shadows on the rooftops of Tel Aviv, the whistleblowers documenting in specific and often chilling detail how they personally waged the war that began in the fall of 2023 after Hamas attacked communities in southern Israel.
Abraham said The Hollywood Reporter that “this truth should have been obvious from the start… So many people – especially Israelis, and people in the United States, Germany and elsewhere – still deny these crimes, and the denial of these crimes allows them to persist. »
The film garnered very good reviews; THR called it “brave and indispensable” for the way it presented soldiers describing how the Israeli army fought the war. The Israeli military said the film was “distorted, misleading and disingenuous” as it criticized the film for its politically motivated choice.
Neon’s decision could also contribute to the filmmakers’ goal of ending U.S. aid to Israel. Abraham told the NYFF audience: “For us, (that’s) the main motivation…these crimes continue not only because our country is committing them, but because your country is supporting them and funding them.” »
NAZANorth American totals put it ahead of the pace of Abraham and Szor’s previous West Bank-centric film. No other landwhich grossed some $2.5 million over several months and won the documentary Oscar without a theatrical distributor.
Neon, meanwhile, is poised to be at the center of this year’s Oscar race with another work making headlines in ArtificialLuca Guadagnino’s scathing drama about Sam Altman and OpenAI’s recklessness with security, after winning big two years ago with Anora and seven years ago with Parasite.
Gn entert
