HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
Gaza Documentary ‘NAZA’ Sparks IDF Counter Film to Rebut Venice Winner
Etan Vlessing
October 5, 2026

Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor’s Israeli documentary NAZA, which earned both a Special Jury prize and blowback from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) after a Venice premiere, has now sparked a counter-documentary. NAZA: The Real Story, from Israeli director and IDF reserve officer Roi Danino, has first-hand testimony from IDF soldiers about how they fought the Gaza war against Hamas and aims to take down the bombshell NAZA whistleblower film. “It is their account, in their own words. Watch it, then decide what you think,” the producers of the rebuttal documentary say on the NAZA: The Real Story website, where the counter film can be viewed…The IDF on Oct. 1 came out with an official, and lengthy, response to NAZA. The creators of the 49-minute rebuttal film, including fellow IDF reserve officer Ariel Averbuch and Israeli content creator Hagay Gutman, contrast the on-the-record accounts of Israel’s Gaza war they offer with the anonymized Hebrew-language interviews with two dozen IDF veterans that claimed in the original NAZA documentary widespread and systemic misconduct in how Israel operated in Gaza after Oct. 2023. READ MORE

Watch the film “NAZA: THE REAL STORY” (a counter-documentary)