The Voice of Hind Rajab wins Silver Lion at Venice Film Festival
Venice: The Voice of Hind Rajab, a powerful docudrama chronicling the killing of a five-year-old Palestinian girl in Gaza, has won the Silver Lion (Second Prize) at the prestigious Venice Film Festival.
Directed by acclaimed French-Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, the film tells the harrowing true story of Hind Rajab, who was killed alongside members of her family while attempting to flee Gaza City during Israel’s ongoing military campaign. The film came second to Father Mother Sister Brother by American indie director Jim Jarmusch.
“Cinema cannot bring Hind back, nor can it erase the atrocity committed against her. Nothing can ever restore what was taken, but cinema can preserve her voice, make it resonate across borders,” said Ben Hania during her award acceptance. “Her voice will continue to echo until accountability is real, until justice is served.”
The film incorporates real audio from Hind’s hours-long phone call with the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), during which she pleaded for help while trapped inside a bullet-riddled car. Her aunt, uncle, and three cousins had already been killed by Israeli gunfire. Hind was ultimately killed before help could reach her. Two PRCS ambulance workers dispatched to rescue her were also reportedly killed.
Ben Hania described Hind's story as emblematic of “an entire people enduring genocide.”
The Voice of Hind Rajab premiered at the Venice Film Festival three days ago to a record-breaking 23-minute standing ovation. The emotional screening saw audience members break into tears, chants of “Free Palestine,” and waves of Palestinian flags inside the theater.
Speaking to AFP from Gaza City, Wissam Hamada, Hind Rajab’s mother, said she hopes the film raises global awareness: “The whole world has left us to die, to go hungry, to live in fear and to be forcibly displaced without doing anything.”
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Iran war 'close to over,' says Trump
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Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump has said that the war with Iran is “close to over,” asserting that if he pulled up stakes right now, it would take Tehran 20 years to rebuild the country.
The president's comments come hours after the US Central Command said it has successfully blocked all traffic to and from Iranian ports and coastal areas in the first 24 hours of Trump's blockade, saying the US was supporting freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
“I think it’s close to over, yeah. I view it as very close to being over,” Trump told Fox News in an interview that will be telecast later Wednesday.
The interview for the programme “Mornings with Maria” was recorded on Tuesday.
“I think it’s — I had to divert because if I didn’t do that, right now you’d have Iran with a nuclear weapon. And if they had a nuclear weapon, you’d be calling everyone over there ‘sir,’ and you don’t want to do that,” Trump said.
The US and Iran failed to reach an agreement following historic marathon talks in Islamabad over the weekend to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict that started on February 28.
A US media report said on Tuesday that Trump said that a second round of talks with Iran could be held in Islamabad “over the next two days.”
“You should stay there, really, because something could be happening over the next two days, and we're more inclined to go there,” Trump told The New York Post.
Trump attributed the possibility of a second round of talks to the “great job” done by Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir.
“It's more likely, you know why? Because the field marshal is doing a great job,” the US President said.
He did not say whether Vice President J D Vance would continue to lead the negotiating team, which included White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
“I’ve been saying they can’t have nuclear weapons. So I don’t like the 20 years,” Trump said when asked about suggestions that a moratorium might encourage Iran to make an agreement.
“I don’t want them (Iran) to feel like they have a win,” the US President said.
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