Venice Weeps for The Voice of Hind Rajab; Record-Breaking 22-Minute Ovation
According to CinemaDrame News Agency, The Voice of Hind Rajab, directed by Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, premiered in Venice and broke the 82nd festival’s record with a 22-minute standing ovation. The film, produced by Joaquin Phoenix and Brad Pitt, had already received extended applause during its press conference. Before its screening, many critics had predicted it as the frontrunner for this year’s Golden Lion.
Written and directed by Ben Hania, the film tells the story of a 5-year-old girl left behind in a car who later dies during Israeli attacks on Gaza. It incorporates audio from phone conversations between Hind Rajab and Red Crescent emergency responders attempting to send an ambulance. The cast includes Sajee Kilani, Clara Khoury, and Moataz Malhis.
Variety reported that at the end of the Sala Grande screening, hardly anyone in the audience was seen without tears in their eyes. Festival staff even dimmed the theater lights after twenty minutes in an attempt to gently disperse the crowd, but the ovation continued for several more minutes.
Some attendees raised Palestinian flags inside the theater and chanted “Free Palestine.” Joaquin Phoenix and his wife Rooney Mara appeared at the film’s photocall and red carpet wearing the red “Artists for Ceasefire” pin.
In a joint press statement, the filmmakers declared: “The real question is, how did we allow a child to beg for her life? No one can live in peace when even one child must plead for survival. Let Hind’s voice resonate across the world. Let it remind you of the silence built around Gaza.”
