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‘NAZA’ Screening Draws Protest at Hamptons Film Festival in Sag Harbor
The Venice prize-winning documentary about Israeli military operations in Gaza brought demonstrators to Sag Harbor as local Jewish groups raised concerns about the film and its presentation and HIFF defended its decision to screen it
It was an unseasonably warm Saturday in Sag Harbor — more like summer than the first weekend in October. The open-air tables at the American Hotel and the hot new restaurant Miracle on Main Street were packed with diners clinking glasses and silverware.
But just up the street, a different sound could be heard. It was the sound of protest.
Roughly 50 people joined East End Jews for Israel, Inc. lining up across the street from Sag Harbor Cinema, where the Hamptons International Film Festival was screening the controversial documentary “NAZA.”
Some held signs as others spoke through a megaphone. Chants of “NAZA spreads hate,” “NAZA spreads lies,” “Learn the facts” and “Shame on you” carried across Main Street as festivalgoers arrived at the cinema.
Sag Harbor Village Police kept the traffic moving — their increased presence for the screening had officers stationed along both sides of Main Street as the demonstration unfolded.
What Is ‘NAZA’?
“NAZA,” directed by Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, examines Israeli military and intelligence operations in Gaza, including targeting systems, the use of artificial intelligence and allegations about civilian deaths resulting from Israeli strikes. The documentary features interviews with 24 Israeli military and intelligence personnel whose identities are concealed.
The film takes its name from the Hebrew military acronym “NAZA,” short for nezek agavi, or “collateral damage,” a term used by the Israeli military to estimate the number of civilians expected to be killed in an airstrike.
According to the filmmakers, the documentary grew out of more than three years of investigative reporting and interviews with more than 100 sources. “NAZA” premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it received a lengthy standing ovation and won a Special Jury Prize.
Protests in NYC
Controversy followed “NAZA” to New York. Its North American premiere at the New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center on Sept. 26 also drew protesters. The Israeli-American Council organized a demonstration outside the screening, where trucks with LED screens displayed images from the Oct. 7 attacks and messages challenging the film.
Israel’s military has rejected the film’s allegations, calling its portrayal of Israeli targeting procedures “distorted, misleading and disingenuous.” The IDF has said the documentary’s anonymous sources had limited knowledge of its multistep targeting process and disputed several of the film’s claims about civilian casualties. The filmmakers have defended their reporting.
Local Jewish Groups Raise Concerns
Local Jewish organizations raised concerns about “NAZA” before Saturday’s screening.
In a letter sent to its membership, the Jewish Center of the Hamptons said its officers, Board of Trustees and clergy were calling on HamptonsFilm to “reconsider the screening.” The letter described “NAZA” as presenting a “highly contested account of the Israel-Gaza war” and said difficult issues require “context and verifiable accuracy.”
The Jewish Center also told members it was organizing a peaceful protest with other Jewish organizations on the East End.
In a Sept. 23 letter to festival leadership, Temple Adas Israel in Sag Harbor said that while it would prefer that “NAZA” not be screened, it supported HIFF’s right to show it and did not advocate censorship.
Temple Adas Israel objected to HIFF’s original description of the documentary, which said the film revealed the systems behind Israel’s “calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.” The temple said the description presented the film’s claims as fact rather than as allegations.
HIFF subsequently revised its description. Its current listing says “NAZA” “explores allegations” surrounding Israeli intelligence operations and notes that the film’s depiction of events “has caused controversy, drawn criticism, and generated intense public debate.”
In correspondence responding to concerns about the screening, HIFF Board Co-Chairman Randy Mastro defended the festival’s decision to show the documentary.
“The answer to speech considered offensive is not censorship; it is more speech,” Mastro wrote.
On Saturday, Spark Hamptons asked Rabbi Debra Stein of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons what she would say to those who argued that, as a matter of free speech, the film should be shown.
“We’re not asking for censorship,” Stein said. “We’re asking for balanced exposure. No censorship. Nobody wants censorship.”
“Also show both sides,” she added.
Protesters Challenge Film and Festival
Mitchel Agoos, a member of East End Jews for Israel, spoke through a megaphone from the protest line.
“This is an undocumented, unverified movie using 24 anonymous [sources],” Agoos told Spark Hamptons. “They won’t even tell their names.”
Another member of East End Jews for Israel also spoke with Spark Hamptons.
“This film is fiction parading as a documentary,” she said. “No reputable media source would publish these allegations with 24 unidentified, unverified, uncorroborated anonymous allegations.”
“The festival was asked to show ‘October 8,’ multiple films showing the Israeli perspective, and they declined,” she said. “Only when faced with tremendous pressure did they add a few films at the last minute.”
“If the festival wanted to truly show the truth, they would have shown ‘October 8’ and the many other films,” she continued. “They would have shown the October 7th footage taken by Hamas.”
Emotions in the protest line ranged from anger and disgust to sorrow.
“And the timing is wrong,” one woman told Spark Hamptons. “Wednesday is going to be three years since October 7. They couldn’t wait? This is brutal.”
‘All Points of an Issue Should Be Screened’
As protesters demonstrated, Judy Licht, secretary of the Hamptons International Film Festival’s Board Executive Committee, was heading into Sag Harbor Cinema to see “NAZA.”
Spark Hamptons asked Licht why she thought the film should be screened.
“I think all points of an issue should be screened, but within context,” Licht said. “We at the festival feel that we have provided context.”
“We have a two-hour panel of experts, journalists who will discuss the issues of documentaries, truth and [whether they] represent the facts of controversial issues,” Licht told Spark Hamptons. “We also have military experts to respond to the charges made in this movie about the Israeli IDF and their methods.”
“We feel that the only way to answer speech on either side is to answer it with a response,” Licht said. “And you provide context. Then it is an important issue to bring out in the open.”
HIFF Adds Programming
The panel Licht referenced was part of additional programming HIFF organized around “NAZA.”
Moderated by Susie Gelman, former board chair and current chair emerita of the Israel Policy Forum, the two-hour discussion included John Spencer, an urban-warfare scholar and combat veteran; journalist Richard Behar; documentary filmmaker Kim Snyder; Libby Lenkinski, founder and president of Albi, a fund supporting storytelling about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; and Khalil Sayegh, a Palestinian political analyst born and raised in Gaza and co-founder and president of the Agora Initiative.
The festival also added “The Choice,” about Israeli families grieving in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks who seek guidance from Holocaust survivor and psychologist Edith Eger, and an encore screening of “Holding Liat,” which follows an Israeli-American family after members of the family were taken hostage during the attacks.
The demonstration remained peaceful. Sag Harbor Village Police said both the protest and screening concluded without incident.
‘NAZA’ Screens Again at HIFF
“NAZA” is scheduled for a second Hamptons International Film Festival screening Friday, Oct. 9, at 4:15 p.m. at East Hampton Regal UA.
Advance tickets for the screening are no longer available, with admission now limited to HIFF’s rush line as seats become available.
