Documentary
Gaza War Film The Voice of Hind Rajab Wins Silver Lion at Venice After Record 23-Minute Ovation
The Venice Film Festival 2025 was marked by emotion, politics, and history as Kaouther Ben Hania’s Gaza war docudrama The Voice of Hind Rajab claimed the Silver Lion, the festival’s second-highest honor. The film, centered on the tragic story of a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed by Israeli fire, received an unprecedented 23-minute standing ovation, one of the longest in film festival history.
A Story That Shook the World
The film revisits the final hours of Hind Rajab, who was trapped in a bullet-ridden car in Gaza City alongside the bodies of her aunt, uncle, and cousins. In haunting detail, it incorporates real audio from her desperate call to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, where volunteers tried to comfort her before she too was killed, along with two ambulance workers sent to rescue her.
“Cinema cannot bring Hind back, nor can it erase the atrocity committed against her,” Kaouther Ben Hania said in her acceptance speech. “But cinema can preserve her voice, make it resonate across borders. Her voice will continue to echo until accountability is real, until justice is served.”
A Global Spotlight on Gaza
The film’s Venice Film Festival premiere brought a wave of emotion. Actor Motaz Malhees raised a Palestinian flag on stage, while chants of “Free Palestine” filled the Lido. Hollywood stars Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara, who served as executive producers, attended the premiere alongside the cast, holding up Hind’s photo throughout the ovation.
Festival organizers described the reception as “record-breaking,” surpassing Guillermo del Toro’s 22-minute Cannes ovation for Pan’s Labyrinth in 2006.
Kaouther Ben Hania’s Gaza war docudrama The Voice of Hind Rajab – 23 Minutes Ovation at Venice Film Festival
Political Undercurrents at Venice
The win came against the backdrop of Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, which has killed more than 64,000 Palestinians, including 18,000 children, according to local health authorities. Several award winners used their platforms to speak out against injustice. Italian actor Toni Servillo, who won best actor for La Grazia, praised activists sailing in flotillas to break Israel’s siege. Indian director Annapurna Roy, winner in the Horizons sidebar for Songs of Forgotten Trees, declared: “Every child deserves peace, freedom, liberation — and Palestine is no exception.”
Even Jim Jarmusch, who took the Golden Lion for Father Mother Sister Brother, signaled solidarity by wearing a badge reading “Enough” on stage.
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Toward the Oscars?
Tunisia has already submitted The Voice of Hind Rajab for consideration as Best International Feature Film at the upcoming Academy Awards. Kaouther Ben Hania, a two-time Oscar nominee (The Man Who Sold His Skin, Four Daughters), is now seen as a frontrunner.
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Actress Saja Kilani summed up the film’s resonance: “Hind’s story carries the weight of an entire people. It is the voice of every daughter and every son with the right to live, to dream, to exist in dignity.”
As the Venice Film Festival ovation proved, her voice has become not just a symbol of Palestine but a rallying cry for humanity.
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