Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and actor Kevin Spacey were among the high-profile guests at the Cinema for Peace gala in Berlin on Monday night, where Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania used her acceptance speech to deliver a blistering political rebuke.
Ben Hania’s Oscar- and BAFTA-nominated feature The Voice of Hind Rajab was awarded the group’s “most valuable film” prize during the ceremony at Berlin’s Adlon Hotel, hosted by Bob Geldof. The annual event, held on the sidelines of the Berlin Film Festival, also honored Noam Tibon, the former Israeli general featured in the Canadian documentary The Road Between Us, which chronicles the rescue of his family from Hamas following the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks.
Taking the stage, Ben Hania made clear she viewed the award less as a celebration than as a burden.
“I feel responsibility more than gratitude,” she said of the honor for The Voice of Hind Rajab, which chronicles the Red Crescent’s efforts to save Hind Rajab, a young Palestinian girl killed by Israeli forces during the 2024 invasion of Gaza.
“What happened to Hind is not an exception. It’s a part of a genocide. And tonight, in Berlin, there are people who gave political cover to that genocide by reframing the mass civilian killing as self-defense, as complex circumstances. By denigrating those who protest,” she said. “But as you may know, peace is not a perfume sprayed over violence, so power can feel refined, and can feel comfortable. And cinema is not image-laundering.”
The director argued that peace without accountability was meaningless and said she would not take the award home with her. “Justice means accountability. Without accountability, there is no peace. The Israeli army killed Hind Rajab; killed her family; killed the two paramedics who came to save her, with the complicity of the world’s most powerful governments and institutions,” she said. “I refuse to let their deaths become a backdrop for a polite speech about peace. Not while the structures that enabled them remain untouched. So tonight, I will not take this award home. I leave it here as a reminder. And when peace is pursued as a legal and moral obligation, rooted in accountability for genocide, then I will come back and accept it with joy.”
Elsewhere in the evening, Geldof took aim at Donald Trump over his stance on climate change. “He’s a fucking idiot, and he should shut up,” Geldof said
Read Kaouther Ben Hania’s full speech below:
“I need to read because, The Most Valuable Film of the Year is too much for me. …Good evening. Tonight, I feel responsibility more than gratitude. The Voice of Hind Rajab is not only about one child. It’s about the system that made her killing possible. What happened to Hind is not an exception. It’s a part of a genocide. And tonight, in Berlin, there are people who gave political cover to that genocide. By reframing the mass-civilian killing as ‘self-defense,’ as ‘complex circumstances.’ By denigrating those who protest. But as you may know, peace is not a perfume sprayed over violence so power can feel refined, and can feel comfortable. And cinema is not image-laundering. If we speak about peace, we must speak about justice. Justice means accountability. (applause)Without accountability, there is no peace. The Israeli army killed Hind Rajab; killed her family; killed the two paramedics who came to save her, with the complicity of the world’s most powerful governments and institutions refuse to let their deaths become a backdrop for a polite speech about peace. Not while the structures that enabled them remain untouched. So tonight, I will not take this award home. I leave it here as a reminder. And when peace is pursued as a legal and moral obligation, rooted in accountability for genocide, then I will come back and accept it with joy. Thank you very much. Thank you.”
