Tunisian director’s Gaza film The Voice of Hind Rajab wins Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at Venice Film Festival

ISTANBUL

Kaouther Ben Hania’s powerful Gaza docudrama The Voice of Hind Rajab won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize, the second-highest honor, at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday.

The Tunisian director’s latest film recounts the events of Jan. 29, 2024, when the 5-year-old Hind Rajab was the sole survivor in a car hit by Israeli forces while trying to escape with her family in Gaza.

During the attack, Hind made a desperate phone call to Red Crescent volunteers pleading for help. Volunteers tried to maintain contact and summon an ambulance, but both the vehicle and the girl were struck before help could arrive.

In her acceptance speech, Hania dedicated the award to the Palestinian Red Crescent and praised the “heroes” working in first response teams.

“Hind’s voice was a cry for rescue the entire world could hear but no one answered,” Hania said.

“Her voice will continue to echo until accountability and justice is served. Cinema cannot bring her back nor can it erase the atrocity that was committed against her. But cinema can preserve her voice,” she added.

She stressed that this is not just Hind’s story but also the story of the “criminal Israeli regime that acts with impunity.”

Emphasizing that the story is also about urgency, she noted that Hind’s family and countless families in Gaza still face danger, fear, and hunger under daily bombardment, and urged world leaders to act.

“May Hind rest in peace, may the eyes of her killers never sleep, and free Palestine,” she said.

Earlier, at the film’s premiere, the screening got a rapturous response from the audience, including a standing ovation lasting more than 22 minutes.

The festival’s Golden Lion for best film went to Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother, while Benny Safdie got the Silver Lion for best director with The Smashing Machine.