(Web Desk) – In a moment that will go down in cinema history, Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania’s haunting docudrama The Voice of Hind Rajab received a record 23-minute, 50-second standing ovation at the 82nd Venice Film Festival, the longest ovation ever recorded at the prestigious event.
The film recounts the final hours of six-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab, whose desperate voice shook the world after she was trapped in Gaza on January 29, 2024.
A Child’s Plea That Shook the World
Hind Rajab was traveling with her family when Israeli fire struck their car, killing her relatives instantly. Miraculously alive but trapped inside the wreckage, Hind called the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, whispering through tears:
“Please come, I’m scared… everyone is dead.”
An ambulance was dispatched but destroyed by Israeli strikes before reaching her, killing both medics. Days later, Hind’s body was found beside her slain cousin, Layan.
Her tragic plea became a symbol of Palestinian suffering and the devastating impact of war on innocent lives.
Venice Audience Overwhelmed
At the film’s premiere, the packed audience erupted into emotional applause. Many wept as chants of “Free Palestine” filled the theatre.
On stage, actor Motaz Malhees raised the Palestinian flag, while Oscar-winners Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara held a portrait of Hind, standing alongside director Ben Hania.
The film, supported by an international team of producers including Brad Pitt, Alfonso Cuarón, and Jonathan Glazer, blends real emergency call recordings with dramatic reconstructions — a bold cinematic style Ben Hania says was chosen to “humanize the numbers that too often reduce war victims to mere statistics.”
Historic Ovation & Global Impact
The 23-minute ovation shattered past records at global film festivals, surpassing Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth at Cannes (2006) and Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door at Venice (2023).
Critics are calling it “the most powerful cinematic tribute to Palestinian voices in decades.”
