.
Critical response The film received a 23-minute, 50-second standing ovation at its
Venice premiere, beating the previous record for longest recorded applause at a film festival; ''
Pan's Labyrinth'' had received a 22-minute standing ovation at the
2006 Cannes Film Festival. Brian Tallerico of
RogerEbert.com said of the film, "I'm always a little conflicted when a tragedy involving a child is used in filmmaking, but I also believe that true action sometimes requires being confronted with visions of true horror instead of just reading or hearing about them.
The Voice of Hind Rajab is the confrontation its victim deserves."
Slate's Sam Adams wrote, "Ben Hania periodically reminds the audience just how faithful the re-creation they're watching is. She fills the screen with the audio waveform of Rajab's voice, the digital file name stamped in the corner, and occasionally allows the voices of the real dispatchers the actors are playing to overlap with their dialogue. The movie keeps reminding us how close we are to what actually happened, climaxing with a shot that blends real video and the actors' reenactment. But the heart of the conflict, like Rajab herself, is impossible to reach."
Peter Bradshaw of
The Guardian gave the film 4/5 stars, writing, "there is a reckless, ruthless kind of provocative brilliance in what Ben Hania is doing. Is it in bad taste? Problematic? Well, in a world where directors busy themselves and us with made-up stories about made-up people, Ben Hania is at least grabbing one of the most relevant issues of our time with both hands and finding a way to thrust it under our noses."
Accolades The film was selected as the Tunisian entry for the
Best International Feature Film at the
98th Academy Awards. == Censorship ==