Gaza girl's desperate pleas in 'The Voice of Hind Rajab' shake Venice

The anguished final pleas of a 5-year-old Palestinian girl trapped in a car under Israeli fire are retold in "The Voice of Hind Rajab," a film that received a 24-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival, the longest for this festival to date. 

"Hind's story carries the weight of an entire people," one of the actors, Saja Kilani, told reporters in a statement she read out on behalf of the whole cast and crew ahead of the screening.

The true-life drama focuses on telephone operators from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society who tried for hours to reassure the trapped Hind as she begged to be rescued from the car, where her aunt, uncle and three cousins already lay dead. "I'm so scared, please come," the little girl says, with the original recordings of her increasingly desperate calls to the dispatchers used to powerful effect throughout the film.

"The real question is, how have we let a child beg for life? No one can live in peace while even one child is forced to plead for survival... Let Hind Rajab's voice echo around the world," Kilani said.

After a three-hour wait, the Red Crescent finally got the green light from Israel to dispatch an ambulance to save Hind. But contact with the girl and the rescuers themselves was cut just after the ambulance arrived at the scene.

Days later, the girl's body was found along with those of her relatives in the car. The remains of the two dead ambulance workers were also recovered from their bombed-out vehicle.

The Israel Defence Forces initially said its troops had not been within firing range of the car. However, independent investigations challenged this assertion and a subsequent UN report said the IDF had destroyed Rajab's car and killed the two medics who were trying to save her.

Asked about the killings this week, the IDF said the incident, which happened on January 29, 2024, was still under review and declined further comment.

STANDING OVATION

The film received a thunderous, 24-minute standing ovation at its premiere, by far the longest of this festival to date, making it the clear crowd favourite to win the prestigious Golden Lion award, which will be awarded on September 6.

"Free, free Palestine," people in the audience chanted.

The movie has also attracted some top Hollywood names as executive producers, giving it added industry heft, including actors Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara, who were both in Venice on Wednesday to support the production, as well as Brad Pitt.

Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, who also wrote the screenplay, said Hind's voice transcended a single tragedy. "When I heard the first time the voice of Hind, there was something more than her voice. It was the very voice of Gaza asking for help... It was anger and helplessness that gave birth to this movie," she told reporters.