Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara Walk Venice Red Carpet to Support Gaza Drama ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ 

Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara Walk Venice Red Carpet to Support Gaza Drama ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ 

Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania received high-profile Hollywood support Wednesday evening at the red carpet world premiere of her Gaza-set drama The Voice of Hind Rajab. Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara were on hand to back the film, which is quickly emerging as one of the most talked-about titles of the fall festival season.

The usual carnival atmosphere of the Venice carpet was subdued for the powerful premiere. Ben Hania, her all-Palestinian cast, Phoenix and Mara all wore black and carried a framed photo of 6-year-old Hind Rajab, the film’s subject and a victim of the war in Gaza. In place of the pumping house music typical of Venice red carpets, a somber ambient score accompanied the arrival, as festival chief Alberto Barbera walked arm in arm with Ben Hania into the Sala Grande Cinema.

A hybrid documentary drama, The Voice of Hind Rajab is built around the real-life emergency calls of six-year-old Hind Rajab, who was trapped in a car in Gaza on Jan. 29, 2024, after Israeli tank fire killed her family. For over an hour, the Palestine Red Crescent Society stayed on the line as Hind pleaded for rescue. An ambulance sent to reach her was itself destroyed, killing the medics. Her voice, later verified by outlets including The Washington Post and Sky News, became one of the most haunting symbols of the war. Unable to film in Gaza, two-time Oscar nominee Ben Hania reconstructed the Red Crescent call center, casting Palestinian actors as the responders while using Hind’s actual recorded voice at the center of the film.

Just as the Venice festival was kicking off last week, The Voice of Hind Rajab received a major boost with the announcement that Hollywood heavyweights Brad Pitt, Phoenix, Mara, Alfonso Cuarón and Jonathan Glazer had come on board as executive producers. Pitt’s Plan B partners, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, also joined the team. Their involvement is expected to give the film a significant push, particularly in the U.S., where their backing could help ensure the documentary reaches a much wider audience.

Ben Hania said at a Venice press conference earlier on Wednesday that the backing of such global film figures was something she “never imagined was possible,” but that she’s “very grateful for their support.”

“The fact that all those names joined the movie means something. We’ve seen the narrative change all around the world,” she added. “That’s why cinema, art and every kind of expression are very important — to give those people a voice and a face.”

Earlier in the press conference, one of the film’s stars, Palestinian-Canadian actress Saja Kilani, read a prepared statement on behalf of the whole film team, stating, “Enough of the mass killing, starvation, dehumanization, destruction and the ongoing occupation. … Hind’s voice is one amongst tens of thousands of children that were killed in Gaza in the last two years alone.”

The winners of the 2025 Venice Film Festival will be unveiled at a ceremony on Saturday, Sept 6.