A documentary examining the Israeli military`s use of artificial intelligence to target locations in the Gaza Strip received a 25-minute standing ovation at its Venice Film Festival premiere on Friday, according to Al Jazeera and AFP. The 80-minute non-fiction feature, directed by filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, investigates automated targeting systems developed and deployed in military operations. The directing pair previously achieved global recognition after winning an Academy Award in 2025 for a collaborative project covering community displacement across the occupied West Bank.
The festival screening drew intense international attention from cultural critics and human rights monitors.
Compiled over nearly three years of reporting, the documentary incorporates testimony from active and former intelligence personnel who spoke under strict anonymity protocols. Producers digitally altered the facial features and voices of participants, conducting the interviews after dark on rooftop locations across Tel Aviv. Abraham noted in statements to AFP that the core objective was allowing operational personnel to outline directly how technological reconnaissance functioned during tactical deployments.
The project examines a computational architecture referenced by whistleblowers as Lavender, which monitored mobile telecommunications and geolocation patterns across Gaza to establish individual profiles. Several participants interviewed in the film stated that target tracking operated akin to an automated production line, with remote oversight leading some operators to treat fatal actions with algorithmic detachment.
Sources quoted in the production acknowledged awareness that structures designated for aerial strikes housed civilian families at the time operational orders were cleared. Directors Abraham and Szor stated that they intended the release to prompt international governments to reconsider unconditional diplomatic posture and institute formal oversight measures. The investigative production was developed in partnership with British producer Jim Wilson, director Jonathan Glazer, and international news organisation The Guardian.
Trade outlets covering the Venice screening characterized the visual work as a confrontational examination of contemporary remote combat.
