Venice Film Festival Debuts Palestinian Documentary Citizen Osama Amid Ongoing Gaza Conflict

The 83rd Venice International Film Festival opened on 2 September 2026, but the real headline arrived on 5 September with the world premiere of Citizen Osama. Directed by Ahmed Hassouna, the film follows Gaza‑based photojournalist Osama through a year of war, laying bare the daily hardships civilians endure and the perils journalists face on the front lines.

Citizen Osama was selected as Palestine’s entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards. The opening frame—an apartment building collapsing under an Israeli airstrike—sets a stark tone, underscoring the human cost of the Gaza war that began on 7 October 2023.

The documentary sits alongside a Venice slate that celebrates journalism in conflict zones. In addition to Citizen Osama, the program features NAZA, a joint effort by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor that examines Israeli military actions in Gaza; La Ragazza con la Leica, which reimagines the life of Spanish Civil War photographer Gerda Taro; and Danny Boyle’s Ink, which explores the rise of Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid The Sun.

Hassouna’s film captures Osama moving through rubble‑filled streets, scavenging for water and food while documenting the destruction around him. In the liner notes, Hassouna writes that a journalist “is not a soulless camera; he is a man struggling to find water, fighting to obtain food and constantly worrying about how to find milk for his newborn baby or how to feed his wife so she can breastfeed their child.” The film also covers the killing of Al‑Jazeera journalist Ismail al‑Ghoul in a July 2024 Israeli airstrike, an incident that drew international condemnation.

The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that more than 200 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Gaza since the war began. The CPJ lists the deaths of Al‑Jazeera staff member Ismail al‑Ghoul and Palestinian photojournalist Fatima Hassouna in an Israeli airstrike on 16 April 2025. Foreign reporters are largely barred from entering Gaza; Israeli authorities allow only tightly controlled tours organized by the military.

Venice’s opening ceremony featured Ink, while the closing film was God Laughs. The festival’s jury president is American actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. The schedule was announced on 23 July, with NAZA added to the main competition on 24 August after safety concerns.

The Gaza war has inflicted significant humanitarian losses. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, as of 28 August 2026, at least 76,621 people—74,582 Palestinians and 2,039 Israelis—have been reported killed. The United Nations and several human rights organizations have described the conflict as constituting genocide, citing mass killings, deliberate starvation, and the destruction of civilian infrastructure.

Citizen Osama offers a ground‑level view of these events, illustrating how journalists in Gaza are both witnesses and participants in the conflict. Its premiere at Venice brings international attention to the plight of Palestinian journalists and the broader humanitarian crisis.

The documentary’s debut marks the first time a Palestinian feature has been screened out of competition at Venice in 2026. It also positions Palestine for consideration in the Academy Awards’ Best International Feature Film category, where the film must have been released theatrically between 1 October 2025 and 30 September 2026.

The film has premiered at Venice and is currently seeking U.S. distribution. No further release dates have been announced.