Director Kauser Ben Hania premiered her powerful political film The Voice of Hind Rajab at the Venice Film Festival in September, drawing the longest standing ovation in recent memory, lasting more than 20 minutes.
The Tunisian director, whose previous two films, “The Man Who Sold His Skin” and “The Four Daughters,” were nominated for Oscars, has since been touring film festivals with “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” Tunisia’s official entry for the Academy Award for international feature film. It focuses on the single haunting voice of a real five-year-old Palestinian girl trapped in a car attacked by Israeli forces in Gaza and later found dead.
Ahead of the film’s official Arab world premiere at the first Doha Film Festival, Ben Hania spoke to Variety about the response to The Voice of Hind Rajab so far around the world and the struggle to get it released in the United States.
What do you think about The Voice of Hind Rajab opening the Doha Film Festival? The Doha Film Institute of course supported the film, and Qatar played a key role in brokering the ceasefire agreement.
I am very happy that this film will be shown in Doha as well. It all started when I asked for a regional premiere. You probably know that festivals in this region compete with each other. We were looking for premieres at each festival. This was followed by the (ad hoc) Gaza International Women’s Film Festival, which opened on October 26th. We told them, “Gaza wants.” They said, “Yes, certainly.” However, the film has also been shown in Cairo, Marrakech and the Red Sea. So Doha will be the (official) Middle East premiere. But this is a very special and specific film. Therefore, in this case, there is no reason for festivals to compete with each other. Thank you to all of them because they all quickly understood that this film should be shown at every opportunity.
Briefly, there was some controversy over the fact that The Voice of Hind Rajab did not win the Golden Lion at Venice. What did you think about it?
As you know, Venice is the premiere of this film, and as a filmmaker you never know what’s going to happen. What happened in Venice exceeded my expectations. Actually, it started in the morning. I heard that the press conference was very moving. Journalists applauded, which usually isn’t the case. And at the gala premiere, the audience started clapping and no one could stop it. Then they told us to leave the theater because there was another movie. All of this felt a little surreal to me and a little overwhelming. I said to myself. “I can now say that because of the reaction I felt that day, Hind Rajab’s voice will be heard.”
That was the best award for me. You should ask the jury about the controversy. I got second place, which is great. The top award went to Jim Jarmusch, a director I greatly respect. When I started making movies, I watched all of his movies. Well, I have nothing to say about this controversy.
How has the reaction been since Venice?
Now, since Venice in September, the award we’ve won most often on the festival circuit has been the Audience Award. This shows that the film is and will continue to find an audience around the world.
In Italy, where I am based, “The Voice of Hind Rajab” did very well at the box office, grossing over $1.4 million. Was it released elsewhere? What is the situation with theatrical releases around the world?
Yes, it worked really well in Italy. Especially considering they aren’t used to movies without dubbing. And Andrea Romeo (the film’s Italian distributor) released it without dubbing, since the film is centered around voices. It has also been released in Tunisia and will be released across Europe soon. in France on November 26th. It will then be rolled out to many countries in the Middle East in mid-December. However, this film has also been released in many other countries, for example in Indonesia, where my film was acquired for the first time.
There has been a lot of talk about the film’s struggles with distribution in the United States. Tell me about that challenge.
Well, we had a hard time finding a major distributor for this film. As you know, we had such a strong start in Venice that we could have been picked up by a major distribution company. But that wasn’t the case. All passed. So, WILLA, who is the executive producer, is distributing it. The film also represents Tunisia in the international Oscar race. I hope that American audiences will also watch this movie and take action. It’s not a movie where you can say, “Enjoy it and go home!” So let’s see (what happens) through Oscar screenings and a December 17th release in the US
You said that the audience who saw The Voice of Hind Rajab should do something about it. What are your hopes for the impact of this film?
Palestinian voices are not often heard. They are often silent. This is starting to change little by little. But it’s still very, very difficult. So the first step is to listen to other voices. I made this film in those dark times because I was asking myself a lot of questions about what it means to make a film today. And can movies be an agent of change? This is my hope. It’s not just a cathartic moment where the audience cries and goes home and forgets about it. But they’re actually doing something about it. Because they too are citizens and can change things.
Regarding this aspect of the film, a cease-fire agreement has been reached since Venice, but it may be unstable. How do you think this film can intersect with the current state of conflict?
This question cannot be answered. As you know, I cannot predict the future. However, I don’t think the amount of loss, tears, and pain (inflicted) is enough to say “enough is enough.” No, you can’t do that. Because the wound is open. When I started thinking about this film, for me, it was like a turning point in the genocide that happened there. It wasn’t. The situation worsened day by day until the end of Venice. I mean, it’s still happening, and it’s an open wound that no movie can heal. Only justice can do that. This is not a ceasefire to improve the situation. How about justice for Hind and all the murdered children? If so, we might have something to look forward to.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
