NAZA documentary on Gaza killings becomes one of year’s most watched
NAZA, the award-winning documentary detailing Israel's mass killing of civilians in Gaza, has been seen by over 1.5 million people worldwide since its theatrical release last month.
The documentary has reached a worldwide audience of 1,547,033 as of November 6, making it one of the most-watched documentary films with a theatrical release in 2026. NAZA won the Special Jury prize at the Venice film festival in September, where its premiere was met with a record 24.5-minute standing ovation.
Box Office Success
The film has already made cinematic history in Italy, where it was released in September with 717,517 admissions, making it the third most-watched documentary with a theatrical release of all time in Italy. In the UK and Ireland, it has garnered 102,508 admissions, while the Benelux region counted 132,323 admissions across Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
Across the US and Canada, the film has clocked 83,673 admissions since its September 30 release. In France, despite being shown for only 48 hours due to streaming regulations, it still attracted over 82,000 admissions across nearly 500 screenings, ranking top of the box office on both days.
Rarely does a film screening give way to such silence when the lights come back on.
Political Controversy
The film drew worldwide attention after Israel's culture minister threatened to strip its directors of their citizenship and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the identification and prosecution of the film's interviewees. In Germany, where the war in Gaza has sown deep division in the cultural scene, NAZA reached 83,355 spectators.
After a cinematic run in 47 territories, the Guardian is preparing the documentary's free global streaming release on its website for early December, with plans to make it available in multiple languages to reach a large global audience.
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