It has made quite an impact at the Venice Film Festival, including a standing ovation that lasted nearly 24 minutes.
The Voice of Hind Rajab has now won the prestigious Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize – second best film overall – to conclude the week in Italy and send a message to the world.
Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania dedicated the award to humanitarian workers in Gaza, describing them as “the real heroes”. Her heart-rending drama uses the real phone recordings of a dying child’s plea to be rescued in Gaza city.
It was selected for the Silver Lion from 21 entries by a jury chaired by American director Alexander Payne. The top prize, the Golden Lion for Best Film, went to Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother.
“I dedicate this award to the Palestinian Red Crescent and to all those who have risked everything to save lives in Gaza,” Ben Hania posted on Instagram, captioning a photo of herself holding the award. “They are real heroes.
“The voice of Hind is the voice of Gaza itself. A cry for rescue the entire world could hear, yet no one answered. Her voice will continue to echo until accountability is real and justice is served.
“We all believe in the force of cinema. It is what gathers us here tonight, and what gives us the courage to tell stories that might otherwise be buried.”
The film received a record-breaking 23-minute, 50-second standing ovation after its world premiere at the festival on Wednesday.
The response, believed to be the longest in film festival history, ended with the audience chanting “free, free Palestine” as the lights went up.
The drama reconstructs the events surrounding the death of Hind Rajab, five, in Gaza city last January alongside four cousins, her aunt and uncle, and two paramedics who attempted to rescue her after the family's car came under fire from Israeli forces.
The National's review gives the film four stars and describes it as “one of the most devastating works to come out of the terrors that have occurred since the October 7 attacks nearly two years ago”.
In her Instagram post, Ben Hania shared a message from Hind’s mother, Wissam. “I want to say thanks to you, to the whole team, and to everyone who supported the film, supported me, and supported this story,” she said.
“I hope the world does not forget that Hind is not the only story in Gaza, there are many children still waiting for hope. I wish this film helps to stop the war.”
Tunisia has already submitted The Voice of Hind Rajab as its entry for this year’s Best International Feature Oscar.
“Cinema cannot bring Hind back, nor can it erase the atrocity committed against her,” Ben Hania continued in her statement. “Nothing can ever restore what was taken. But cinema can preserve her voice, make it resonate across borders, because her story is not hers alone.
“It is tragically the story of an entire people enduring genocide, inflicted by a criminal Israeli regime that acts with impunity.
“Tonight, this story is not only about memory, it is about urgency. Hind’s mother, Wissam, and her little brother, Iyad, are still in Gaza. Their lives remain in danger, as do the lives of countless mothers, fathers and children who wake up every day under the same sky of fear, hunger, and bombardment.
“I urge the leaders of the world to save them. Their survival is not a matter of charity. It is a matter of justice, of humanity, of the minimum that the world owes to them.
“I also call for an end to this unbearable situation. Enough is enough. Once upon a time, a wise man named Nelson Mandela said: 'We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.' Today, his words ring truer than ever.”
The jury's best director award went to Benny Safdie for The Smashing Machine, and the award for best screenplay to Valerie Donzelli for A pied d'oeuvre (At Work).
The Volpi Cup award for best actress was awarded to Chinese actress Xin Zhilei for The Sun Rises on Us All by Cai Shangjun, and the best actor award went to Italian actor Toni Servillo for La Grazia by Paolo Sorrentino.
The Marcello Mastroianni Award for best young actor or actress was won by 25-year-old Swiss actress Luna Wedler for her role in Ildiko Enyedi's Silent Friend.
Sotto le Nuvole (Below the Clouds) by Gianfranco Rosi was recognised with the special jury prize.
