A film about a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed by Israeli soldiers in Gaza received a 23-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday.
Directed by Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, The Voice of Hind Rajab left much of the audience and cast in tears after the screening.
Members of the audience also broke out into chants of “Free Palestine” after the screening.
The docudrama, which was showing during the 82nd edition of the festival, tells the story of Hind, who fled Gaza City in a car with six of her family members in January 2024, only to find their vehicle being shelled by Israeli tanks.
Her uncle, aunt and three cousins all died in the attack.
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Hind and another cousin – who initially survived – contacted the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) by phone, to ask for help. A recording of that conversation was later made public.
The child was heard pleading, “Please come, I am scared.”
Before medics could reach the children, Israeli soldiers resumed firing on the vehicle, killing them.
An investigation by Forensic Architecture found that Israeli soldiers knew that there were children in the vehicle and that at least 335 bullets were fired at it.
A film about a five-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed by the Israeli military received a 23-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival on Tuesday.
The Voice of Hind Rajab left much of the audience and cast tears after the screening.
It tells the story of Rajab… pic.twitter.com/k52yjEksUc
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) September 3, 2025
Last week, Hollywood stars Joaquin Phoenix and Brad Pitt joined a group of film industry figures putting their weight behind the movie.
Hind Rajab, Palestinian child killed by Israel, honoured one year after her death
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Pitt and Phoenix were joined as executive directors by Oscar-winning filmmaker Jonathan Glazer, Roma director Alfonso Cuarón and actress Rooney Mara.
Speaking about her film, Ben Hania said: “I cannot accept a world where a child calls for help and no one comes. That pain, that failure, belongs to all of us.”
Hind Rajab’s image has become symbolic of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and the disproportionate toll it has taken on children.
More than 63,000 people have been killed by Israel in the Gaza Strip, according to the enclave’s health ministry.
Over 10,000 more are missing and presumed dead.
At least 18,000 of those killed were children.
