A deeply moving film about a five-year-old girl, Hind Rajab, who was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza last year, received a 23-minute standing ovation following its premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday.
Directed by Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, The Voice of Hind Rajab was praised by critics as “the most powerful and urgent entry” of this year’s festival. Much of the audience, which included celebrities and journalists alike, were left visibly emotional at the screening of the movie, reports agencies.
The film reconstructs the heart-wrenching scene of Hind’s desperate phone call to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. Trapped in a car surrounded by the bodies of her aunt, uncle, and three cousins, Hind made the call, pleading to be rescued. After a three-hour wait, the Israeli military allowed rescue teams to send an ambulance. However, contact with Hind was lost just as the ambulance arrived at the scene.
Days later, Hind’s body was discovered alongside her relatives. The remains of two ambulance workers who had tried to save her were also found in their destroyed vehicle, reports Al Jazeera.
The film dramatises the efforts of the Red Crescent team trying to coordinate her rescue, while incorporating actual phone recordings from Hind’s final call.
To date, the Israeli military has not issued any statement regarding an investigation into the incident.
Actor Saja Kilani, speaking on behalf of the film’s cast and crew, stated, “The voice of Hind Rajab does not need our defence. This film is not an opinion or a fantasy. It is anchored in truth.”
She continued, “It is the voice of every mother, father, doctor, teacher, artist, journalist, volunteer, paramedic, each with the right to live, to dream, to exist in dignity, yet all of it was stolen in front of unblinking eyes. And these are only the voices we know. Beyond every number is a story that never got to be told.”
Palestinian actor Motaz Malhees, from Jenin, shared his personal connection to the story, saying, “When I was 10 years old, I lived this life. Hearing Hind’s voice took me straight back to my childhood. I felt as if I had died a thousand times. This wasn’t acting. This was my life.”
Hind’s mother, Wissam Hamada, expressed her hope that the film might help bring an end to the ongoing conflict, which some scholars and aid organizations have described as a genocide. “The whole world has left us to die, to go hungry, to live in fear and to be forcibly displaced without doing anything,” Hamada said in a phone interview from Gaza City, where she lives with her five-year-old son.
Actors Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, and Rooney Mara, and filmmakers Jonathan Glazer and Alfonso served as the film’s executive producers. Phoenix and Mara also attended the screening of the film at the Venice Film Festival and shared an emotional moment with the cast after the premiere.