The news that the jury Venice Film Festival Awarded a special award to the documentary film "NAZA", it prompted Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar to announce that he would "immediately take steps to revoke the Israeli citizenship" of directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Shor.
25 minutes of applause
In fact, the film claims that the Israeli army targeted civilians in Gaza. During three years, the authors secretly recorded interviews with 24 Israeli soldiers and members of the intelligence services, and thus recorded their shocking testimonies about the operations in Gaza. AP reports that among them there are former and current members of the Israeli military and intelligence system, and that their identities are protected by changing their appearance and voice.
The film was subsequently included in the festival program, and the media say that the applause lasted 25 minutes at the premiere.
Minister's reform
Minister Zohar, however, called the film "disgusting", and the award from the Venice Film Festival "shocking".
He said the creators were "willing to harm their homeland just to get applause from anti-Semites around the world," which "represents state treason."
"It is for this reason that I implemented an important reform in cinematography so that Israeli citizens no longer have to pay out of pocket for the damage done to IDF soldiers and the State of Israel," the minister said.
He previously posted a video saying:
"For years the formula was simple: smear Israel and get a check from the government. Not anymore."
Then because he promised to redirect "our money from movies that Israel haters love to movies that Israelis love... This is the end of an era in which Israeli soldiers smear themselves at the expense of Israeli citizens."
Awards in Venice
In Venice, on Saturday evening, September 12, the 83rd Film Festival ended with the award ceremony.
The film "Woman Unknown" (Woman Unknown) by the Danish director May el-Touki won the Golden Lion for the best film, the best actress was Matilda Arcel for her role in the same film, while the American actor John Malkovich won the Volpi Cup for the best actor for his role as an eccentric CIA agent in the film "Wild Horse Nine".
Photo: APMay el-Touki Danish director
For May el-Touki, this is a particularly significant moment also due to the fact that she was the only female director among the 21 films in the main competition program. That's why her triumph took on wider significance in the context of the multi-year debate about the representation of women behind the camera at major film festivals, writes "Reuters".
The award for the best director went to Ilya Hrลพanovski for the film "DAU", while the award for the best screenplay went to Stefan Brize, Coralia Amadeo and Olivier Gorce for the French film "A Good Little Soldier".
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