Venice Film Festival jury president Alexander Payne responded to backlash on Saturday after Jim Jarmusch’s “Father Mother Sister Brother” was awarded the festival’s Golden Lion over Kaouther Ben Hania’s “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” which received a 22-minute standing ovation at its premiere.
“That’s the unfair thing of being at a festival, is having to say this is better than that. It’s not,” Payne said when asked during a press conference why “Hind Rajab,” a critical favorite at the festival, didn’t win the Golden Lion. “As a jury, we treasure both of those films equally, each for its own reason. And we wish both of those films a long and important life, and we hope that the support of the awards we’ve given tonight will help them, each in its own way.”
More from TheWrap
Payne continued diplomatically, indicating that “Father Mother Sister Brother” — which stars Cate Blanchett and Adam Driver — wasn’t exactly the far and away winner.
“Look, if we had voted the day before, the day later, it might have been different … As I say, we treasure and value and protect both films equally in our hearts. And if one had to receive one prize [over] the other, it’s for .000001% of having to make some kind of decision,” he added.
Rumors began swirling on social media on Saturday that there was tension in the jury room over deliberations for the Golden Lion, with some unfounded allegations that a member of the jury threatened to quit when it became clear “Hind Rajab” wouldn’t win the Golden Lion.
But Payne said that never happened. “One of my jurors threatened to quit? I did?! No, did someone threaten to quit? No. I think we know … not to believe everything we read online,” he clarified.
Hania’s film follows the events that led up to the death of five-year-old Hind Rajab, a Palestinian child who lived in the Gaza Strip, using real audio from her emergency call. Rajab died alongside six of her family members after the Israeli military invaded the Strip.
Hind and her family were attempting to flee the city by car when they came under military fire. Her calls for help ended amid gunfire. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) were able to eventually reach the vehicle and confirmed the deaths of everyone inside, along with two paramedics who attempted to rescue Hind.
“The [Israeli] occupation deliberately targeted the Red Crescent crew despite obtaining prior coordination to allow the ambulance to arrive at the scene to rescue the child Hind,” the PRCS said in a statement at the time.
In reviewing the film for TheWrap, critic Ben Croll wrote that the Tunisian filmmaker renders the world “with unbearable clarity. … Setting raw audio against meticulously staged reenactments, her hybrid docufiction gives searing form to the most wrenching material, recreating in real-time the final hours of a six-year-old girl in Gaza.”
Croll also noted that when the movie screened, it “drew the most effusive reaction I’ve ever witnessed at the Venice Film Festival – this time from a crowd with no stake in the film. At its Wednesday morning press screening, applause thundered through the credits, breaking only when attendees collapsed into full-body sobs.”
The post Venice Jury President Alexander Payne Denies Rumors Juror Threatened to Quit Over ‘Voice of Hind Rajab’ Snub appeared first on TheWrap.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source ca.news.yahoo.com ’
