Naza: When a Film is the News
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What is the Naza film and why did it spark a 25‑minute standing ovation at Venice?
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It's ten AM on Thursday, september seventeenth in New York City. It's five PM on Thursday, september seventeenth in Israel, as Israelis begin to wind down their day. The biggest story of this past week, at least in terms of the press coverage it attracted, was not the Houthis attack on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea ports or their attempted attack on the holy city of Mecca. It also wasn't that Israel and Morocco agreed to open mutual embassies or that three Jewish schoolboys were tragically assaulted on a London bus. No. It was a film that's screened at the Venice Film Festival, which accuses Israel of intentional mass civilian killing in Gaza. The film, titled NASA, received a 25-minute long-standing ovation, the longest standing ovation in the history of the Venice Film Festival, and I assume just about any film festival.
But what makes this story particularly bizarre is that while millions of people immediately formed a strong opinion about this film, the number of people who actually watch this film is smaller than the than the number of people listening to this episode of Call Me Back. And it is certainly smaller than the number of people who've watched the new season of Fauda on Netflix, which, though fictional, does recount the story of Hamas' atrocities on October seventh. Having not seen this film, I did not feel like I had anything to add to this discourse, nor did I think that many of the people who did actually contributed much to it. That's until I listened to Yossi Klein Halevi and Danielle Hartman's most recent episode on ARC Media's For Heaven's Sake podcast.
They too have not seen the film, but while they themselves have been critical of Israel's conduct of the war at certain times, they also point out facts that clearly illustrate that the standing ovation, both at the event and outside of it, has more to do with the people classing. Mapping. than the accusations themselves, because much of the film's testimony is anonymous and impossible to independently verify. Meanwhile, the role of Hamas and its own brutality against civilians disappears. It is practically absent from the narrative. If there's one conversation you should listen to as it relates to NASA, it is this one. So we decided to drop it in our call me back feed. In case you missed it, please give it a close listen.
We'll be right back with the special replay of For Heaven's Sake.
I'm Deborah Pardase, the host of Ark News Daily. What's happening in Israel and the Jewish world right now matters, but it can be hard to keep up, let alone make sense of it all. That's why we started Ark News Daily. Every weekday morning, I walk you through the most important news, give you the context you need, and let you know what to look out for next. I don't try to convince you of anything and I don't waste your time. On most days, I'll be in your ears for about 10 minutes or less. Then you can move on with your day, hopefully a little bit smarter than before. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts or follow the link in the show notes. I hope to see you tomorrow.
The first thing we learned about the film was not about the film at all. It was the standing ovation. Nearly twenty-five minutes of a standing ovation. I can't imagine what it's like to be clapping your hands for twenty five minutes without interruption. There's something so profoundly totalitarian about that. It was a declaration.
Of disgust of Israel, independent of the movie. And if you don't show your disgust well enough, you sin if you only have 22 minutes of disgust. I embrace all criticism. But with this movie, I found myself like from the beginning just shutting down what you're
describing Danielle is a textbook case of how not to galvanize the society to have a moral introspective conversation.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the Naza film and why did it spark a 25‑minute standing ovation at Venice?
0:00–8:07
2
How did the hosts first react to the film’s standing ovation and what does it reveal about Israeli discourse?
8:07–14:03
3
Why do the speakers argue that the film’s focus on civilian casualties may silence discussion of Hamas?
14:03–19:39
4
What is the debate around “collateral damage” versus “collateral killing” in the Gaza war?
19:39–24:33
5
Does the film’s narrative constitute an accusation of genocide, and how do the guests assess that claim?
24:33–30:53
6
Can the filmmaker’s motives and anonymity be trusted, and how does that affect the film’s credibility?
30:53–35:00
7
How does the conversation shift to concerns about anti‑Semitism, censorship, and the broader impact on Israeli society?
35:00–40:42
8
What conclusions do the hosts draw about the role of art, media, and public debate in confronting the Gaza conflict?
40:42–47:08
Speakers
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