The new documentary “NASA,” which deals with mass killings carried out by Israel against civilians in Gaza using artificial intelligence, won the Special Jury Prize at the 83rd Venice Film Festival on Saturday.
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The film was directed by Oscar-winning Israeli journalists Yuval Avraham and Rachel Tzur, and was nominated by some critics for the “Golden Lion” award for best film, after receiving a 25-minute standing ovation following its premiere on Thursday.
Upon receiving the award, Abraham said that during the ten days following the start of the festival, “Israel killed at least six Palestinian children in Gaza.”
He addressed the audience, saying, “Israeli intelligence officers informed us that these mass killings are systematic, not accidental, but the result of prior planning, and include acts of murder and policies based on completely dehumanizing Palestinians.”
He added: “Palestinian journalists have been documenting the truth since day one (of the war), and Israel has killed more than 200 of them in Gaza.”
Abraham added, "It was extremely important for us that Israelis watch this film," stressing that "it is our country that commits these crimes."
The Special Jury Prize is awarded each year in recognition of outstanding work, but it is considered lower in importance than the Golden Lion and Silver Lion awards.
Abraham and Tzur based their work on conversations with 24 different sources within the Israeli military or intelligence establishment, who requested anonymity.
The 80-minute film shocked many viewers, especially since those interviewed spoke of feeling like they were working in a “factory” of death or inside a deadly video game while using Israeli AI-powered targeting systems to bomb Gaza.
The Israeli army “categorically” rejected the allegations made in the documentary.
He stressed that decisions regarding the option of strikes and their authorization were made exclusively “by humans… not artificial intelligence.”
During the film's announcement in August, the two directors pledged to reveal "the mechanisms behind the planned massacre perpetrated by Israel against Palestinian civilians in Gaza."
Abraham said, "We are giving soldiers and officers the opportunity to talk about what they have done."
He continued, “The goal was very simple; we wanted to hear, in as much detail as possible, what the killing systems in Gaza looked like, and how they operated.”
Screen magazine described the film as “deeply painful and psychologically disturbing,” while The Hollywood Reporter stated that it evokes “anger… and a profound sense of humiliation and disgust towards the current Israeli regime.”
The film's title is taken from an Israeli military abbreviation commonly used in intelligence to refer to the number of civilians expected to be killed in a raid, according to the British newspaper The Guardian.
The film took three years of investigative research to produce, and it is the only documentary competing in this year's Venice Film Festival, which concludes on Saturday.
The Israeli war in Gaza since October 7, 2023, has resulted in the martyrdom of more than 73,500 Palestinians and the injury of more than 174,000.
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