Venice Film Festival honours ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ with longest standing ovation

Kaouther Ben Hania’s new film 'The Voice of Hind Rajab' received an overwhelming response at its world premiere at the 2025 Venice Film Festival with the festival’s longest standing ovation of 22 minutes and sparking chants of “Free Palestine” from the audience.

The 90-minute feature, which has been chosen as Tunisia’s official entry for the Best International Feature Oscar, recounts the tragic story of six-year-old Hind Rajab. In January 2024, while fleeing Gaza City with her family, their car was reportedly struck by Israeli tank fire, killing all on board except Hind.

The child remained trapped for hours, speaking desperately over the phone with the Palestinian Red Crescent. Both she and two paramedics dispatched to rescue her were later found dead, after the ambulance was also hit. The film incorporates verified audio from Hind’s final phone call.

‘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

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

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 3, 2025

Directed by Ben Hania, acclaimed for Four Daughters, the project attracted a lineup of renowned executive producers including Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Alfonso Cuarón, and Jonathan Glazer.

Phoenix and Mara attended the Venice premiere, visibly moved during the extended ovation. Inside Sala Grande, tears, applause, Palestinian flags and keffiyehs filled the venue, as chants of “Free Palestine” rang out during and after the screening.

#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

At a press conference earlier in the day, Palestinian-Canadian actress Saja Kilani, who stars in the film, called for an end to the violence in Gaza. “Hind’s story carries the weight of an entire people,” she said. “It is the voice of every daughter and every son with the right to live, to dream, to exist in dignity.”

Ben Hania admitted she initially feared not being able to do justice to Hind’s story. “I was afraid that I’d fail her voice,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. But the reaction at Venice suggested otherwise. “Cinema and art are important to give those people a voice and a face,” she added.