Gaza documentary NAZA tops Italian box office, extends cinema run

Gaza documentary NAZA has extended its run in Italian cinemas after topping the country's box office throughout its planned three-day release, according to official figures released Thursday.

The film earned €451,872 ($531,000) from 60,467 admissions when it opened Monday, data from Italian box-office tracker Cinetel showed.

Its cumulative earnings reached nearly €1.81 million by the end of Wednesday, with more than 243,000 admissions.

It remained the country's highest-grossing film Wednesday, ahead of documentaries The Bibi Files and the rerelease Avengers: Endgame Extra.

Initially scheduled to screen on Sept. 28-30, NAZA was given an extended release after sold-out screenings and strong audience demand.

More than 150 cinemas have prolonged their programming, according to reports.

“As long as theatres want to show it, NAZA will continue to be screened,” Andrea Romeo, founder of Italian distributor I Wonder Pictures, told newspaper La Repubblica.

Directed by Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, the 80-minute documentary examines Israeli military targeting practices in Gaza and alleges that systems used during the conflict made large-scale civilian deaths an anticipated part of some operations.

Filmed secretly on rooftops in Tel Aviv, it features testimony from 24 anonymous Israeli soldiers and intelligence personnel describing surveillance, target-generation and civilian-casualty assessment procedures, including the use of artificial intelligence.

The filmmakers said the title comes from a Hebrew military acronym referring to collateral damage and used to estimate the number of civilians expected to be killed in an attack.

The Israeli military rejected the documentary's account in a detailed response published Thursday.

It denied deliberately targeting civilians and said artificial intelligence had never independently selected targets for attack.

The military maintained that authorized officers and commanders make targeting decisions and that its procedures require measures to reduce civilian harm.

NAZA was produced by The Guardian and JW Films and premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in September.

It received the festival's Special Jury Prize, while Abraham and Szor also previously worked on the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land.

The film is expected to be released in more than 50 territories during October.

It opened in New York on Wednesday and is scheduled for a wider US rollout beginning Oct. 9.