Gaza Drama ‘The Voice Of Hind Rajab’ Gets Record 23-Minute-Plus Ovation At Venice World Premiere (2025)

Kaouther Ben Hania’s Gaza-set drama The Voice of Hind Rajab, one of the buzziest titles coming into this year’s Venice Film Festival given its subject matter, received what might be a film festival record 23-minute and 50-second ovation after its world premiere Wednesday evening, when the audience broke into chants of “free Palestine” after the lights went up.

It was certainly the biggest response at this year’s festival for the drama, which reconstructs the events surrounding the killing of 6-year-old Hind Rajab, her four cousins, her aunt and uncle, and the two paramedics who came to her rescue after their car came under fire by Israeli forces as they tried to flee Gaza City in January 2024.

The killings took place some three months into Israel’s ongoing military operation in the Gaza Strip, following the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, which has resulted in the deaths of more than 61,000 people living in the Palestinian territory. Nearly a third of the dead are under the age of 18.

Here in Venice, it’s thought that Pedro Almodóvar’s English-language debut, last year’sThe Room Next Door, had been the ovation record-holder at 18 minutes. The longest recorded applause at a film festival had been a 22-minute standing ovation for Guillermo del Toro’s 2006 film Pan’s Labyrinth at theCannes Film Festival.

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After tonight’s screening, as the “free Palestine” chants began, Hind Rajab actor Motaz Malhees took one of many Palestinian flags in the audience and held it up in the gallery. Several audience members were seen and heard sobbing during the film — and some were still crying even after it ended.

Last week, a number of Hollywood A-listers came on board Hind Rajab as executive producers including Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Alfonso Cuarón and Jonathan Glazer. Phoenix and Mara were present today at the Venice photo call for the film and attended the premiere screening, where the cast of the film held up a photo of Hind Rajab amid the ovation.

Tunisia has already selected the drama as its submission for the Best International Feature Oscar.

At the film’s press conference this afternoon, Ben Hania and her cast entered the room, and were greeted with a standing ovation, after which actress Saja Kilani took the mic and gave an impassioned speech on behalf of the film’s crew.

“Enough of the mass killing, the starvation, the dehumanization, the destruction, and the ongoing occupation,” Kilani said.

“This film is not an opinion or a fantasy. It is anchored in truth. Hind’s story carries the weight of an entire people. Her voice is one amongst 10s of 1000s of children that were killed in Gaza in the last two years alone. It is the voice of every daughter and every son with the right to live, to dream, to exist in dignity. Yet all of it was stolen in front of our unblinking eyes.”

On Saturday, a large protest gathered on the Lido in support of Palestine and to denounce Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.

In his review, Deadline’s Damon Wise called the movie “extraordinary” saying it “could be the lightning rod that supporters of the Gazan cause are waiting for, an urgent procedural that uses cinematic means — close, hand-held takes and a camera that paces around like an expectant father — to make its point.”

He also noted, “This vital movie is not about the how or the when, it is all about the why.”

Ben Hania is one of Tunisia’s most internationally renowned directors. Her last film, Four Daughters, was nominated for Best Documentary at the 2024 Academy Awards, having been presented in Competition at Cannes and winning the Golden Eye award.

Her previous film, The Man Who Sold His Skin, was also nominated at the Oscars, for Best International Feature in 2021.

The Voice of Hind Rajab is produced by Nadim Cheikhrouha under his Mime Films and Tanit Films banners. Additional producers are Odessa Rae at New York-based RaeFilm Studiosand James Wilson at London-based Jw Films Production.

The Party Film Sales is handling international with a number of key distributors already on board. CAA Media Finance reps North America.