The film The Voice of Hind Rajab received a standing ovation lasting about 23 minutes after its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, an applause length that organisers and observers say is thought to be a festival record.
Directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, the film re-enacts the killing of six-year-old Hind Rajab and members of her family and rescuers after their car was fired on in Gaza City in January 2024. The screening at Venice prompted audible sobs, chants and a prolonged standing ovation from the audience.
During the screening’s ovation, actor Motaz Malhees, who appears in the film, waved a Palestinian flag on stage and received a particularly strong response, according to festival reports. Some members of the audience chanted “Free Palestine.” The emotional premiere was attended by several of the film’s executive producers, including Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara, who joined earlier publicity events in Venice. Other executive producers listed include Brad Pitt, Alfonso Cuarón and Jonathan Glazer.
The Voice of Hind Rajab reconstructs the events surrounding the January 2024 attack in which Hind Rajab, her cousins, aunt and uncle, and two paramedics who had come to their aid were killed, according to accounts shown in the film. Ben Hania’s approach uses re-enactment to depict the incident and its aftermath; festival coverage described the premiere as highly charged.
Festival ovations are commonly lengthy, and the 23-minute applause for Ben Hania’s film was widely compared with the 22-minute ovation given to Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006. Venice organisers and journalists covering the festival described the reaction as likely the longest in the festival’s history, phrasing the claim as “thought to be a record.”
The Venice Film Festival, one of the industry’s major gatherings, has often been a stage for politically and emotionally resonant works to generate strong audience responses. The film’s presence at Venice followed months of international attention to the events it portrays, and the star-studded roster of executive producers drew additional media interest ahead of the premiere.
Festival screenings frequently serve as a platform both to introduce films to critics and industry figures and to gauge audience reaction ahead of wider release. The Voice of Hind Rajab’s reception at Venice established the film as a focal point of discussion at the festival and underscored the polarising and emotive nature of cinematic treatments of contemporary conflict.