A special screening of Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s Oscar-nominated feature “The Voice of Hind Rajab” was held on Tuesday at the United Nations Office at Geneva during a U.N. Human Rights Council event preceded by a video message from multiple Oscar-winning Mexican helmer Alfonso Cuaron.
The screening – more than two years after the death of 5-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab who was trapped inside a car that was attacked by Israeli forces in Gaza and later found dead – took place within the framework of the council’s ongoing work on children’s rights and protection in armed conflict.
It was co-organised by Spain and Palestine and backed by fifteen additional member states across four continents (Algeria, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Iceland, Iraq, Ireland, Jordan, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Slovenia, South Africa, Tunisia and Turkey). During the event the council collectively called for “protected humanitarian and medical corridors, and stronger safeguards for healthcare workers in Gaza amid escalating violence across the Middle East,” according to a statement.
The “Voice of Hind Rajab” event was attended by Hind’s mother Wesam Hamada who in an address to delegates said: “To me the film is not just the voice of Hind, but the voice of all the children in Palestine,” the statement said.
Hamada in her speech described Geneva as “a city of conventions, a city of rights. A city of big words – justice, protection, human dignity.”
“But if words don’t turn into action they become witnesses against us,” she pointed out. “I am not a legal expert,” Hamada continued. “But I have come to know about law because my daughter was killed. The question is not ‘is there a law?’, because law does exist. The question is – who has the courage to apply it?”
Alfonso Cuarón in his video message in support of the film said: “By carrying Hind’s voice with you, you uphold the inalienable right to truth, refusing the role of the silent bystander, to become active agents of international justice – demanding the absolute accountability our shared humanity requires.”
“The Voice of Hind Rajab” in September elicited more than 20 minutes of thunderous applause when it world premiered at the Venice Film Festival and then went on to win the fest’s Silver Lion. The film has been released in the U.S. by WILLA.
English (US) ·