Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania retused to accept the
“Most Valuable Film” award for her documentary The Voice of Hind
Rajab at the Cinema for Peace gala in Berlin on February 16.
The ceremony at Berlin's Hotel Adlon Kempinski was attended by former
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and actor Kevin Spacey. The gala
also honored former Israeli general Noam Tibon.
Ben Hania left her trophy behind in protest against the event providing
“political cover” for genocide by “reframing mass civilian killing as self-
defense” and “denigrating protesters.”
“Peace is not a perfume sprayed over violence, so power can feel
refined, and can feel comfortable. And cinema is not image-laundering;”
she said”
“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
She said she would return to accept the award when peace is “rooted in
accountability for genocide.”
