The Voice of Hind Rajab docudrama received a 23-minute-long standing ovation Wednesday night after its premiere at the annual Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy. It was the longest-ever applause in the festival’s 93-year history.

A number of Hollywood stars, including Joaquin Phoenix and Brad Pitt, were executive producers on the film. 

Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old Palestinian girl, was killed by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) alongside members of her family and two ambulance workers on January 29, 2024 in Gaza City. 

Trapped alone in a car after her relatives were killed, Hind made desperate phone calls to the local Palestinian Red Crescent.

Three hours later, an ambulance managed to reach the car.

It was found completely destroyed, with reports indicating that an IDF tank fired more than 300 rounds at the vehicle. The ambulance was also targeted, killing the health staff inside.

Director Kaouther Ben Hania detailed why she decided to direct the film, stating that Palestinians have long been dehumanized in the media and have only been seen as “collateral damage.”

“That’s why cinema, art and every kind of expression is very important to give those people a voice and face,” Ben Hania said at the festival.

Wissam Hamada, Hind’s mother, told the AFP news agency in a phone call from Gaza City that she hopes the film would help end the war. 

“The whole world has left us to die, to go hungry, to live in fear and to be forcibly displaced without doing anything,” she said.