A Venice Film Festival docudrama portraying the tragic killing of the five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab by Israeli military during its ongoing genocide on Gaza has won the prestigious Silver Lion award.
The Voice of Hind Rajab, directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, finished runner-up and won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at the 82nd edition of the world-class movie festival on Saturday.
The French-Tunisian director’s flick recounts the tragedy on January 29, 2024, when the Palestinian girl 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 the Palestine Red Crescent Society in the besieged city and pleaded for help, but both the car and the girl were struck before volunteers and ambulances could arrive.
The film uses real audio from the five-year-old girl’s hours-long call to the Red Crescent, in which rescuers tried to reassure her as she lay trapped in a bullet-ridden car with the bodies of her aunt, uncle, and three cousins.
In her acceptance speech, Ben 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,” the French-Tunisian director 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.”
Ben Hania stressed that the film is not just Hind’s story but that of “an entire people enduring genocide,” and also the story of the “criminal Israeli regime that acts with impunity.” 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.
At the film’s premiere earlier in the month, 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 Father Mother Sister Brother by Jim Jarmusch, who also signaled his opposition to Israel’s continued siege and bombardment of Gaza by wearing a badge saying “Enough” at the award ceremony.
The ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza since October 2023 has so far resulted in at least 64,368 documented Palestinian fatalities, with over 162,367 others injured. Thousands of victims are feared trapped under rubble, inaccessible to emergency and civil defense teams due to Israeli attacks.
[ SOURCE: PRESS TV ]
