NAZA documentary beats Avengers at Italian box office — SkimNews
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- NAZA opened at No. 1 at the Italian box office, beating Avengers Endgame: Encore with opening-day takings of €451,872 that rose to about €1.1m by end of Tuesday, on a per-site average of €1,153.
- The 80-minute film's three-day run was extended after sold-out screenings, with more than 150 Italian cinemas adding it to programming and distributor I Wonder Pictures pledging indefinite availability "as long as theatres want to show it."
- Directed by Oscar-winning filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, NAZA won the Venice Film Festival Special Jury Prize earlier this month and received a festival-record 25-minute standing ovation at its premiere.
- The documentary draws on testimony from 24 anonymized Israeli soldiers and intelligence officers describing AI-powered surveillance systems used to select airstrike targets, and takes its title from an intelligence acronym for expected civilian casualties.
- Italian audiences reacted with shock and silence — some holding Palestinian flags at screenings — drawing "a diverse audience of all ages that might not ordinarily be associated with this kind of film," per Anec president Simone Gialdini.
- After its New York premiere Wednesday and wider US rollout from October 9, NAZA will release in more than 50 territories before becoming free on theguardian.com in mid-November.
- The filmmakers said threats from Israeli officials to strip them of citizenship are escalating, with Abraham telling the North American premiere audience that the documented crimes are "ongoing because... of what your country is supporting and funding."
Why it matters: A documentary about Israeli military operations in Gaza earned about €1.1m in two days while outperforming a Marvel blockbuster rerelease at the Italian box office. With 150-plus cinemas extending programming and a free mid-November release on theguardian.com planned after 50-plus territory launches, the Guardian-produced film reaches audiences through both commercial cinema and free online distribution.
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