Neon Backs Venice Prize-Winner 'NAZA' in Push for Wider Release

Neon has partnered with The Guardian, MK2 Films, producer James Wilson and executive producer Jonathan Glazer to bring "NAZA," the Venice Special Jury Prize-winning documentary, to wider audiences.

The deal pairs one of the most prominent independent distributors in the United States with the team behind a film that has already traveled far on its own. Neon announced the pact in a statement, calling the film "one of the best films of the year" and pledging "to bring it to the widest audience possible."

Directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, co-directors of the 2025 Oscar-winning "No Other Land," "NAZA" was the only documentary to play in competition at the Venice Film Festival. It won the Special Jury Prize there, premiering to a record-breaking 25-minute standing ovation. The film went on to screen at the New York Film Festival and collected the Audience Award at the San Sebastián International Film Festival and the Critics Prize at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival. It also appears on DOC NYC's Short List and carries three Critics Choice documentary award nominations.

The film takes its title from an acronym for the Hebrew phrase "nezek agavi" — collateral damage. Shot through secret conversations on the rooftops of Tel Aviv at night, it examines the systems behind Israel's mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza through the testimony of the people who designed and operated those systems.

How has the film performed so far?

In the United States, "NAZA" opened independently on September 30 in 85 theaters across 30 cities. It has grossed more than $700,000. Overseas, the documentary has secured theatrical distribution in more than 50 countries.

That self-distributed footprint now gains a major distributor's backing. Neon, whose releases regularly anchor the American awards conversation, positioned the film in rare company in its statement: "It's an extraordinary work of art and eyewitness testimony that stands alongside landmark documentaries like Laura Poitras' 'Citizenfour' and Joshua Oppenheimer's 'The Act of Killing.'"

Who made the film, and who brokered the deal?

The production credits span several partners. The Guardian produced the film with James Wilson's JW Films, in association with Placeholder Films and Unseen Hand. Jonathan Glazer, the director of "The Zone of Interest," served as executive producer. MK2 Films, which boarded the project for sales before the Venice premiere, negotiated the deal alongside Neon.

What does this change for the film?

The partnership gives "NAZA" access to Neon's distribution infrastructure and awards-season muscle at a moment when the documentary has already built critical momentum — a Venice jury prize, a San Sebastián audience award, a Hot Springs critics prize and three Critics Choice nominations. For a self-distributed title that crossed the $700,000 mark in 85 theaters, the arrangement signals a bid to convert festival acclaim into a substantially larger theatrical and awards footprint in the months ahead.