Kaouther Ben Hania’s latest film, The Voice of Hind Rajab, made a powerful impact at its world premiere at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, earning the event’s longest standing ovation — 22 minutes — and igniting chants of “Free Palestine” from the audience.
The 90-minute feature, Tunisia’s official Oscar submission for Best International Feature, tells the harrowing true story of six-year-old Hind Rajab. In January 2024, while fleeing Gaza City with her family, their car was reportedly hit by Israeli tank fire, killing everyone except Hind. The child remained trapped in the vehicle for hours while pleading for help over the phone with the Palestinian Red Crescent. Both she and two paramedics sent to rescue her were later found dead, after the ambulance was also attacked. Verified audio from that phone call is used in the film.
🎥 “The Voice of Hind Rajab” leaves the crowd in tears with a record-breaking 22-minute standing ovation at Venice Film Festival. 🫶 pic.twitter.com/xWpLBsOLVN
— 𝓙𝓲𝓶𝓶𝔂 𝓙 🫒🗝️🇵🇸 (@JimmyJ4thewin) September 3, 2025
‘THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB’ cast hold up a picture of 6-year old Hind Rajab during the 24-minute standing ovation at the film’s premiere
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 3, 2025
The film tells the story of Hind, who was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza last year along with 6 of her family members pic.twitter.com/E3lzJdbMdA
Directed by Ben Hania, known for Four Daughters, the film was backed by high-profile executive producers including Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Alfonso Cuarón, and Jonathan Glazer. Phoenix and Mara attended the premiere and were visibly moved during the prolonged ovation, as were many in the Sala Grande, where tears and applause filled the venue. Palestinian flags and keffiyehs were seen throughout the crowd, and chants of “Free Palestine” echoed during and after the screening.
The cast and crew of The Voice of Hind Rajab honoured the five-year-old shot dead by Israeli forces in Gaza by holding her picture at the world premiere of the film in Venice pic.twitter.com/p9xf8L5Kth
— The National (@TheNationalNews) September 3, 2025
#TheVoiceOfHindRajab executive producers Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara hug the cast after the world premiere of the film at the #VeniceFilmFestival pic.twitter.com/edXH5ZY7dy
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) September 3, 2025
Saja Kilani, a Palestinian-Canadian actress who stars in the film, delivered a statement during the press conference earlier in the day, urging an end to the violence in Gaza. “Hind’s story carries the weight of an entire people,” she said, adding, “It is the voice of every daughter and every son with the right to live, to dream, to exist in dignity.”
#TheVoiceOfHindRajab star Saja Kilani gives impassioned speech in Venice and makes a strong call for the end to the Gaza violence.
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) September 3, 2025
“Enough of the mass killing, the starvation, the dehumanization, the destruction, and the ongoing occupation,” Kilani said. “This film is not an… pic.twitter.com/xegFFSBrJA
Ben Hania expressed her initial fears of not doing justice to Hind’s story, telling The Hollywood Reporter, “I was afraid that I’d fail her voice.” However, the emotional reception suggested otherwise. “Cinema and art are important to give those people a voice and a face,” she said during the conference.
The film has quickly become one of the festival’s frontrunners for the Golden Lion, combining emotional storytelling with urgent political resonance.
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