Kaouther Ben Hania‘s Oscar and BAFTA nominated feature “The Voice of Hind Rajab” was awarded “most valuable film” at the Cinema for Peace Gala in Berlin on Monday night.
The annual event, attended by Hillary Clinton and Kevin Spacey and hosted by Bob Geldof, also honored Noam Tibon, a former Israeli general and subject of the Canadian documentary “The Road Between Us” about the rescue of his family from Hamas after the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.
In her acceptance speech at the Adlon Hotel, Ben Hania — whose film chronicles the Red Crescent’s efforts to save Hind Rajab, a 5-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed by IDF forces during the Israeli invasion of Gaza in 2024 — said “I feel responsibility more than gratitude” and took aim at those she said had helped create a “system” that made the killing of Rajab possible.
“What happened to Hind is not an exception. It’s a part of a genocide. And tonight, in Berlin, there are people who gave political cover to that genocide by reframing the mass civilian killing as self-defense. As complex circumstances. By denigrating those who protest,” she said.
“But as you may know, peace is not a perfume sprayed over violence so power can feel refined, and can feel comfortable. And cinema is not image-laundering.”
The director also spoke about the need to talk about justice as well as peace, and asserted that she wouldn’t be taking home the Cinema for Peace Award.
“Justice means accountability. Without accountability, there is no peace. The Israeli army killed Hind Rajab; killed her family; killed the two paramedics who came to save her, with the complicity of the world’s most powerful governments and institutions,” she said.
“I refuse to let their deaths become a backdrop for a polite speech about peace. Not while the structures that enabled them remain untouched. So tonight, I will not take this award home. I leave it here as a reminder. And when peace is pursued as a legal and moral obligation, rooted in accountability for genocide, then I will come back and accept it with joy.”
Geldof, meanwhile, attacked President Donald Trump over his dismissal of climate change.
“He’s a fucking idiot and he should shut up,” he said.
variety.com
#Voice #Hind #Rajab #Wins #Prize #Cinema #Peace #Gala #Berlin
