A film about the final hours of five-year-old Palestinian Hind Rajab, who was killed by the IDF in 2024, is one of 12 submissions competing for the top prize at next month’s Film Fest Gent.
Culture
Story of Palestinian girl killed by Israeli army in running for top prize at Film Fest Gent
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The 52nd edition of the Ghent film festival takes place from 8-19 October and the organisers announced the programme on Thursday. Twelve films are in the running for the prestigious International Competition, with the theme “the impact of sound and music on film”.
The most talked-about title is The Voice of Hind Rajab, by Tunisian Kaouther Ben Hania. It reconstructs the last hours of the girl, who was trying to escape Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.
Surrounded by the bodies of family members, she and her cousin call the Palestinian Red Crescent in the West Bank and beg for help. They were killed alongside two paramedics who attempted to rescue them.
Journalist Lieven Trio saw the film at in Venice. “You hear the real audio of the conversation: the emergency workers trying to reassure the girl. It’s very difficult to watch and listen to. I couldn’t get up from my seat for five minutes after it ended,” he told Radio 1’s De Ochtend.
You hear the real audio of the conversation: the emergency workers trying to reassure the girl. It’s very difficult to watch and listen to
The Voice of Hind Rajab won the Grand Jury Prize at Venice and is Tunisia’s entry for the Oscars.
Debut features
From more than 1,600 submitted and scouted films, 119 features and 38 shorts were selected to be screened in Ghent.
Belgian Cato Kusters kicks the event off on 8 October. Her feature debut, Julian, a moving film about love in all its forms, is the opening film. A week and a half later, British director Harris Dickinson will close the festival with Urchin, in which he denounces British policy on homelessness.
Debut films often show the raw energy of filmmakers who are making their voices heard for the first time
“Debut films are often uninhibited and daring. They are indispensable at a festival,” says programme director Wim De Witte. “Young filmmakers often venture into new forms and current battlefields, even those we thought were already won, such as LGBTQIA+ rights. Debut films often show the raw energy of filmmakers who are making their voices heard for the first time.”
For years, the festival has been the venue for the World Soundtrack Awards, which are celebrating their 25th anniversary. The guests of honour are British composer Debbie Wiseman and AR Rahman from India, known for his score for Slumdog Millionaire.
TV and VR on the programme
Two Flemish TV series are also on the programme: the first two episodes of the six-part whodunnit This is Not a Murder Mystery and the long-awaited second season of the audience favourite Roomies.
Additionally, audiences can experience two VR productions by Ghent-based production companies: The Long Goodbye by Kate Voet and Victor Maes, which won awards in Venice this month, and The Great Escape by Joren Vandenbroucke.