Voice of Hind Rajab Director on Opening Doha, US Distribution Struggle

Kaouther Ben Hania elicited the longest standing ovation in recent memory at the Venice Film Festival in September, when her powerful, political film “The Voice of Hind Rajab” premiered to more than 20 minutes of thunderous applause.

The Tunisian director, whose two previous films — “The Man Who Sold His Skin” and “Four Daughters” — were Oscar-nominated, has since been touring the festival circuit with “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” which is Tunisia’s official submission for international feature at the Academy Awards. It centers on a single, haunting voice: that of a real 5-year-old Palestinian girl trapped inside a car that was attacked by Israeli forces in Gaza and later found dead.

Ahead of the film’s official Arab world premiere at the inaugural Doha Film Festival, Ben Hania spoke to Variety about the response to “The Voice of Hind Rajab” around the world so far and her struggle to get it released in the U.S.

How do you feel about “The Voice of Hind Rajab” opening the Doha Film Festival? The Doha Film Institute has of course supported the film and Qatar has been a key player in brokering a ceasefire agreement.

I’m very happy that the movie will be shown in Doha. This started out because they asked for the premiere in the region. You are familiar with festivals in the region: they are competing with each other. Each festival was asking for the premiere. Then the [pop-up] Gaza International Festival for Women’s Cinema came along, which was on Oct. 26. We told them, “Gaza is asking.” They said, “Yeah, sure.” But the movie is also being shown in Cairo, in Marrakech, at Red Sea. So Doha is the [official] Middle East premiere. But this is a very special, specific movie. So, in this case, there is no reason for the festivals to compete with each other. I thank all of them because they all quickly understood that this movie should be shown in every possible occasion.

To put it simply, there was some controversy over the fact that “The Voice of Hind Rajab” did not win the Golden Lion at Venice. How did you feel about that?

As you know, Venice was the film’s premiere and, as a filmmaker, you never know what to expect. What happened in Venice was beyond my expectations. I mean, it started in the morning. I heard that the press screening was so emotional. The journalists clapped, which is usually not the case. Then at the gala premiere, the audience started clapping and nobody could stop them. They asked us to leave the theater, because there was another movie afterwards. All of this was a bit surreal for me, and a bit overwhelming. I told myself, “Now I can say that the voice of Hind Rajab will echo because the reaction that I felt that day.”

That, for me, was the best award. As for the controversy, you should ask the jury. I got the second prize, which is great. The first prize went to Jim Jarmusch, a director whom I admire profoundly. When I started out in filmmaking, I watched all of his movies. So, yeah, I have nothing to say about the controversy.

How have the reactions been since Venice?

Well, since Venice in September the prize that we have been winning most frequently on the festival circuit has been the audience award. This shows that the movie is finding, and will find, an audience all over the world.

In Italy, where I am based, “The Voice of Hind Rajab” has done really well at the box office, scoring more than $1.4 million. Has it been released elsewhere? What’s the situation in terms of getting it out theatrically around the world?

Yes, it did really well in Italy. Especially considering that they are not used to movies that aren’t dubbed. And Andrea Romeo [the film’s Italian distributor] released it without dubbing, because the movie is centered on a voice. It’s been released in Tunisia as well and will soon go out all over Europe; on Nov. 26 in France. Then in mid-December, it will roll out across many countries across the Middle East. But it’s also being released in many other countries — in Indonesia, for example, which is the first time they acquire one of my movies.

There has been a lot of talk about the film struggling to get U.S. distribution. Talk to me about that challenge.

Yeah, we’ve had a hard time in finding a big distributor for the film. As you know, it started out very well at Venice, so we could have been picked up by a major distributor. But that hasn’t been the case. They all passed. So it’s being distributed by WILLA, which is our executive producer. The movie is also representing Tunisia in the international Oscar race. I hope that American audiences will watch it, and also do something about it. Because it’s not a movie where one can say, “Enjoy it, and go home!” So we’ll see [what happens] through the Oscar run and the release, which will be on Dec. 17 in the U.S.

You say audiences that see “The Voice of Hind Rajab” should do something about it. What are your hopes for the film’s impact?

Palestinian voices aren’t heard much, you know. They are often silenced. This is starting to change a little bit. But it’s still very, very difficult. So the first thing is to hear another voice. I made this movie in those dark times because I was asking myself a lot of questions about, what does it mean to do films nowadays? And can film be an element of change? So this is my hope — that it’s not only about the cathartic moment where the audience cries and then they go home and forget about it. But they do something actually about it, because they are also citizens and they can change things.

Regarding this aspect of the film, since Venice a ceasefire agreement has been reached, which may be precarious. How do you think the film can intersect with the current state of affairs regarding the conflict?

I can’t answer this question. You know, I can’t predict the future. But I also don’t think that the scale of loss and tears and pain [that was inflicted] is something that we can say, “It’s enough.” No, we can’t, because it’s an open wound. When I started thinking about this movie, for me, it was kind of the tipping point of the massacre happening there. It wasn’t. It got worse every day until after Venice. So it’s something that is still happening, and it’s an open wound that no movie can heal. Only justice can. It’s not a ceasefire that will make things better. What about bringing justice to Hind and to all the killed children? Maybe then we can hope for something.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.