The Voice of Hind Rajab premiered at the Venice film festival on Wednesday with chants of “Free Palestine” and a record standing ovation of nearly 24 minutes.
The film, directed by Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, tells the story of six-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab who, along with her family and the EMTs who tried to save her, was killed by Israeli forces early last year.
The girl survived the initial attack by Israeli tanks on their car that killed the rest of her family and phoned emergency services for help. Over a period of more than three hours, she begged for help as she waited in the car that her family were using to try to escape the war zone. Paramedics did arrive, but days later their ambulance was found destroyed near Hind’s car.
In a recording of her call, Rajab is heard sobbing and saying, “Please come to me, please come. I’m scared”, while gunfire rings in the background.
The film reconstructs Rajab’s final moments and intersperses re-enactments with raw audio from the call.
According to Deadline, the standing ovation went on for 23 minutes and 50 seconds after the film ended, the longest at the festival so far. Multiple news outlets reported that those present at the premiere were left visibly sobbing and chants of “Free Palestine” rang out during the ovation amid a display of Palestinian flags.
The film stars Palestinian actors Clara Khoury, Saja Kilani, Motaz Malhees, and Amer Hlehel as Palestine Red Crescent Society staffers attending to Rajab’s call and coordinating a rescue.
Brad Pitt, Jonathan Glazer, Alfonso Cuarón, Joaquin Phoenix, and Rooney Mara are executive producers for the film. Phoenix and Mara were present at the premiere along with the cast and crew who also held a photo of Rajab on the red carpet.
Speaking after the screening, Ben Hania said: “A film like this had to be made because too often the news reminds us of facts we forget and sometimes shows us a world that has been denied the power to speak. The voice of this five-year-old girl, Hind, is ultimately that of Gaza asking for help.”
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Kilani, speaking at the press conference for the film earlier in the day, said: “The voice of Hind Rajab does not need our defence. This film isn’t an opinion or a fantasy. It is anchored in truth. Hind’s story carries the weight of an entire people, it is not hers alone. Her voice is one among 19,000 children who lost their lives in Gaza in the last two years alone.
“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.
“The real question is, how have we let a child beg for life? No one can live in peace while even one child is forced to plead for survival. Let Hind Rajab’s voice echo around the world.”
Rajab’s mother Wissam Hamada told AFP from Gaza City that she hoped the film would help end Israel’s war in Gaza.
“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.
The Voice of Hind Rajab is competing for the Golden Lion. It is also Tunisia’s official submission for best international feature film at the forthcoming Academy Awards.
The Israeli military initially claimed its troops had not been within firing range of the vehicle Rajab was in. However, independent investigations later disputed this, and a subsequent UN report concluded that the Israeli military was responsible for destroying the car and killing the two medics who attempted to rescue Rajab.
When asked about the incident this week, the Israeli military said the incident remained under review and declined to provide further comment, Reuters reported.
