At the Venice International Film Festival, the screening of the film “The Voice of Hind Rajab” deeply moved the audience. The drama about the fate of the five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab was greeted at its premiere with applause lasting more than 23 minutes. Many in the audience could not hold back tears. This was reported by The Jerusalem Post.
The film tells the story of a tragic incident in Gaza last year — a five-year-old girl left alone in a car after her relatives were killed by Israeli soldiers. The child endured hours of terrifying fear. She reached out to Red Crescent staff over the phone, pleading: “Please come to me, I am very scared,” while the sounds of gunfire echoed around her.
The poignant documentary is based on authentic audio recordings of the Palestinian Red Crescent and eyewitness accounts. Only after three hours was an ambulance allowed to reach the car, but by the time it arrived, contact with the girl was lost. Several days later, her body was found alongside her relatives. It was also confirmed that two paramedics who attempted to save her were killed when their ambulance was shelled.
The film’s director, Kaouther Ben Hania, told journalists:
“Often, global media portray those killed in Gaza as ‘random victims.’ This dehumanizes them. That is why cinema, art, and any form of expression are so important — to give those people a voice and a face.”
Hind Rajab’s mother, Wissam Hamada, expressed hope that the film would help end the war. “The whole world watched us while we were left to die, starve, live in fear, and face forced displacement. No one did anything to help,” she said with grief.
In addition, non-governmental investigative groups such as Forensic Architecture and Earshot, as well as the UN, conducted investigations and confirmed that the girl’s car was fired upon at close range by a weapon that could only have belonged to Israeli forces. The Israeli army has refused to acknowledge responsibility and continues to avoid official comment.
Experts emphasize that the film not only conveyed the voice of a Palestinian child to the world but also once again drew the international community’s attention to the situation in Gaza.
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