The Venice Film Festival breaks a record: a film has earned 25 minutes of uninterrupted applause

At the Venice Film Festival they’ve decided to break every record in the most spectacular way possible. They spent almost 25 minutes applauding NAZA, a documentary that systematically documents the slaughter of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. This has earned it the biggest ovation in the history not only of the Festival, but of any festival on record in the history of cinema.

MUBI Download

A film on a controversial subject

NAZA is a film that was shot in secret on the rooftops of Tel Aviv, interviewing as many as 24 Israeli officers and soldiers. After three years of editing, named after the term for the collateral damage expected in any kind of attack, the film is the clear favorite to win the Venice Film Festival. That was quite evident when they paused for 25 minutes to applaud the film.

Although generally winning the Golden Lion tends to be indicative of a good run later on at the Oscars, because of its subject it seems that NAZA could be the exception if that were to happen. But since it remains to be seen whether it actually wins it, one thing is certain: it’s not going to leave anyone unmoved given the impact it has already had on the Venice audience.