Watching this chilling documentary is like being submerged in a night without end

Given that NAZA has been denounced by representatives of the Israeli state as antisemitic and a “blood libel”, a couple of points need making. First, while this is unabashedly a polemical film, there is no implication that the interview subjects are fully reliable witnesses, nor that everything they say can be verified.

On the other hand, factual questioning of their statements within the film has so far centred on a couple of relatively narrow issues: the role of AI in determining bombing targets, and one specific occasion when authorisation was allegedly given for a strike expected to lead to up to 500 civilian deaths.

None of this vitally affects the bigger picture – but equally, part of the point is that this picture remains distant, blurry, impossible to access in full. Everything we see refers to what we don’t: the glittering Tel Aviv skyline mirrors the largely offscreen ruins of Gaza, and the people visible in windows going about their business – washing up, typing, watching Netanyahu on TV – stand in for those elsewhere who lead equally ordinary lives, or once did.

At the climax of this compact and precisely shaped film, shadows lift to the extent of allowing us to witness certain things for ourselves. But overwhelmingly, the experience of NAZA is that of being submerged in a night without end. Reviewed by Jake Wilson

NAZA is in cinemas from October 15