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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Separate nodal officer in all districts to prevent female foeticides in Karnataka: Minister
Belagavi (PTI): Accepting that the female foeticide has not stopped in the state, Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Tuesday said that the government is taking strict measures to prevent it.
The minister said the government is appointing separate nodal officers in all districts and tightening measures to prevent foeticide, which he called a "social evil".
He also assured that the government will consider strengthening legislation to control such activities.
The minister was responding to a question by BJP MLC C T Ravi in the Legislative Council.
"Female foeticides have certainly not stopped. If you look at the sex ratio, there is a lot of difference. I accept that this is happening," Rao said.
"Foeticides are not happening under pressure; voluntarily, it is happening, for not wanting a girl child. These things are happening based on the sex determination of the foetus at some hospitals. Sex determination is illegal, but with the advancement in technology, portable ultrasound machines have been developed, which can be easily carried anywhere, and scans and tests can be done. This needs to be controlled. We will bring it to the notice of the central government," he said.
In some districts and in a few hospitals, a higher number of male child births is happening. It is found with the help of intelligence input, the minister said.
"Information is being gathered on the taluk in which the male-female ratio is worsening, what is happening in which hospital, and appropriate action is being taken to crack down on such a network, after proper evaluation."
Decoy operations have been done at seven places in the last two years, to identify those involved in illegal activities linked to female foeticides, and actions have been taken against officials and hospitals involved, he said, adding that more needs to be done on priority.
Responding to a question by Ravi about whether any stringent legislation is being brought, Rao said, the government will consider strengthening the legislation and making it stricter to control this.
"Some amendments have been made to the existing laws in the last two years....advanced technology and the internet is being used to carry out such things, also oral medicines for abortions are available over the counter.
We need to look into bringing legislation to control them. The Food and Drug Administration has issued instructions to pharmacists that the sale of such drugs should be documented."
The minister also said that measures are also being taken for the effective implementation of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC & PNDT) Act, and awareness is being created against the identification of female foetuses and female foeticide.
