French viewers who attended screenings of "NAZA,” a documentary exposing Israel’s killing of civilians in Gaza, said they were shocked by Israeli soldiers’ accounts that reduced Palestinian victims to numbers rather than recognizing them as human beings.
Produced by British newspaper The Guardian and directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, the documentary was screened in French cinemas on Oct. 12-13.
The film drew considerable interest in Paris on its opening day, with most tickets sold.
French viewers who watched "NAZA” at two cinemas in the capital shared their reactions with Anadolu Agency (AA).
'Filmmakers are very courageous’
A French viewer, Kenzi, said the documentary explained the meaning of "NAZA," a term referring to civilian casualties and left him deeply shocked.
He said Israeli soldiers repeatedly discussed numbers and calculations, almost all of which represented people killed in Gaza.
"We know what is happening, we talk about it, we see it, but not to this extent. And here, it was really shocking to see Israeli soldiers talking about it. Sometimes you could sense regret, sometimes not so much. They spoke quite coldly. So, it really disturbed me. And, I think it was very well made. It went by very quickly,” he said.
Noting that the soldiers compared their actions in Gaza to a video game, Kenzi said: "They talk about artificial intelligence to identify people to kill. At a certain point, you see that they no longer measure the number of people they are going to kill, the collateral damage, the NAZAs.”
He said the soldiers frequently referred to a "system.”
"It seemed as though they had been brainwashed and made to believe that they were on the right side, until they realized for themselves that what they were doing was vile,” he said.
Kenzi recalled the soldiers repeatedly saying they "just wanted to eliminate the enemy.”
"They clearly said that the enemy was children aged 3 to 6, women who had done nothing to deserve this. Often, they wanted to eliminate an enemy leader, and in the end, they killed his entire family except that person,” he said.
Praising the Israeli directors, he added: "I think the filmmakers are very courageous to have initiated a project like this.”
‘Affected everyone in the theater’
Iona, a 23-year-old French viewer, said: "I think the film is extremely important. It is extremely important to have this perspective because we often hear testimonies from victims, but here we have testimonies from the attackers, who put the situation into concrete words.”
She said the documentary could help people understand what was happening and stand on the right side of history, adding that the language used and the questions asked deeply affected her.
"He was not afraid to use the word ‘genocide.’ He asked directly whether it was genocide, and they said yes,” she said, referring to the interviewer.
Iona said she found it shocking that the soldiers did not regard the victims as people.
She also highlighted scenes showing people living normally in Tel Aviv while people in Gaza were dying.
"Everything was extremely striking,” she said.
Emphasizing the importance of making such films and allowing everyone to speak, she added: "There was everyone in the theater – young people, older people. You could see that it affected everyone in the theater. There was silence at the end. It was extremely moving.”
She urged people to watch the documentary, ending her remarks with: "Free Palestine.”
Reducing human beings to numbers
Adam, a 27-year-old French viewer, said the documentary left him speechless throughout.
"I was aware of the history and the political issues behind it, of the massacre and genocide taking place in Palestine,” he said.
But hearing testimony from people within the system was still shocking, he added, saying it gave concrete substance to the atrocities.
"Overall, I think the documentary is very well made and presented, because it raises several questions, particularly about the dehumanization of victims through the term NAZA.
Ultimately, the victims, the "collateral damage," as they like to call them, become nothing more than numbers. Reducing human beings to numbers was what shocked me the most,” he said.
Adam said the massacre in Palestine did not begin in October 2023 and praised the directors’ courage despite pressure from the Israeli government.
An interviewer aware of Gaza’s suffering
Another French viewer, Yacine, said the repeated emphasis on numbers was among the documentary’s most striking elements.
"They had an interviewer who appeared objective, who had some distance and recognized the disastrous situation unfolding in Palestine and Gaza,” he said, referring to Abraham.
In contrast, he said, the soldiers interviewed appeared conditioned by war.
"There is a real contrast between the images we saw of Tel Aviv, where people seem safe and appear to lead fairly peaceful daily lives, and the images of Gaza at the end of the film, which embody war and destruction themselves,” he said.
"When you see the images, you get the impression that there is almost no life left. People are surviving.”