The India release of The Voice Of Hind Rajab, the Oscar-nominated Tunisian film centred on the death of a young girl during the Gaza conflict, has been put on hold after it failed to secure certification from the CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification), according to its distributor.

The film’s Mumbai-based distributor Manoj Nandwana, told Variety that the film has been verbally rejected by the CBFC. Nandwana said he had submitted the film to the board in February, aiming for a mid-March release ahead of Oscars, but it has not been cleared, and he was told by a CBFC member that “if it gets released it would break up the India-Israel relationship.”

He said, “I told them: the India-Israel relationship is so strong that it’s idiotic to think this movie will break it.”

The Voice Of Hind Rajab is about a five-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in Gaza City in 2024. The critically acclaimed, Oscar-nominated 2025 docudrama by Kaouther Ben Hania that tells the story of a young Palestinian girl trapped in a car under Israeli military fire in Gaza, blending real recordings with scripted performances. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival to over 20 minutes of applause, won the Silver Lion, and was later screened at the UN Headquarters in New York during the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people.

When a film is submitted to the CBFC, the Examining Committee members watch it and suggest cuts to the producer or distributor. If the producer does not agree with the cuts, they can appeal to the Revising Committee.

In the case of films like Jana Nayagan and Emergency, producers moved the CBFC Revising Committee. However, in this case, it was the CBFC that referred the film to the revising committee itself. The distributor was told that he would be notified later about when the film would be screened by the Revising Committee.

Manoj Nandwana explains, “I have not submitted the film to the revising committee. I received a letter 10 days back from the CBFC stating that the film has been referred to the Revising Committee. Once the revising committee is formed, they will watch the film and take a decision. Only then will we know the film’s release status. The current status of the film on the website shows that the film’s certification is ‘pending for revising committee formation.’”

The CBFC is expected to certify films within a 48-day window. The CBFC did not comment till the time of going to press.

Manoj Nandwana told us, “The Voice Of Hind Rajab was submitted to the CBFC for certification in late January, ahead of a planned release before the March 16 Oscars. CBFC members did not clear the film and pointed out that, at one point, a character says, ‘f**k the army.’ They said, how can you use the F-word for the army – it has to be removed. There is no violence or anything objectionable in the film, so they didn’t suggest any cuts. They just told me that this is a very sensitive film. India and Israel have very good relations at present, and this film, if released theatrically in the country, will harm India-Israel relations.”

-----------------------------------

It is strange, almost jarring, that a film about the devastation of Gaza has found ways to be screened in Israel itself, and yet, in India, it has not secured clearance. Directed by Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, The Voice Of Hind Rajab reconstructs the true story of Hind Rajab, a young girl fleeing Gaza City with her family in January 2024. Their car, however, came under fire from Israeli forces. The film unfolds from the perspective of Palestinian Red Crescent volunteers, who remain on call with Rajab as she tells them, in fear, that her cousins are already dead, and pleads with them not to leave her alone.

The docudrama is anchored by Rajab’s real voice recordings from her final moments. She was never rescued. Twelve days later, her body was discovered alongside her relatives and the two volunteers who had tried to reach her.

For India distributor Manoj Nandwana, the effort to bring the Oscar-nominated film to Indian audiences has been cumbersome. “The Voice Of Hind Rajab is not banned in Israel. Their courts tossed out the efforts to ban films. We went to the Board [Central Board of Film Certification, CBFC] on February 27, where it was viewed by five people. They said it needs to go to the revising committee,” he explains, adding, “They feel the film could sever Indo-Israel relations and is [too] sensitive.”

The film was scheduled to release on March 6, but that date has now been pushed. “But they’re not saying no.”

According to Nandwana, the Board did not return with a list of cuts or a formal objection, but instead left the film in limbo. “They feel the film is against Israel, but it’s not. It’s anti-war. It’s about saving a child. There’s no issue like violence, nudity, and direct political instruction either,” he says. The delay has resulted in a “complete loss for me”.

“I felt it had the legs to fare well. Usually, docudramas don’t do as well, but a lot was going for the film — its theme, the accolades. In India, we didn’t get permission for any festival either. The film has now gone to revising committee but no screening date has been given so far.”

‘The Voice Of Hind Rajab’ holds the record for the longest standing ovation in the history of the Venice Film Festival (23 minutes and 50 seconds).

Kolkata: She grew up with rice rations instead of books in rural Bengal. Lost her childhood friend to marriage at 13. Debutant filmmaker Anuparna Roy drew from life to stun the 82nd Venice Film Festival by winning the Best Director award Saturday - and used the moment to plead for war-torn Gaza's children, reports Priyanka Dasgupta.

Roy, 35, became the first Indian filmmaker to win in the Orizzonti section with her debut 'Songs Of Forgotten Trees', outpacing 18 rivals. On stage, she let her victory speech take a political detour. "Every child deserves peace, freedom and liberation, and Palestine is no exception," she said in her acceptance speech. "I might upset my country, but it doesn't matter anymore."

On phone from Venice, Roy said she didn't realize she was making history when she spoke. "It is a global crisis when a powerful nation like Israel destroys justice, peace and lives. As a global citizen, I had a microphone and couldn't restrain myself," she said.

They once asked if their daughter could ever measure up to Satyajit Ray. On Sunday, Brahmananda and Manisha Roy were celebrating Anuparna Roy's Best Director award at the 82nd Venice Film Festival's Orizzonti section for her debut feature Songs of Forgotten Trees. Roy's win came decades after Ray's Aparajito won the Golden Lion at Venice in 1957. Orizzonti runs parallel to the festival's main competition.

A year ago, the middle-class couple from Kulti in Paschim Bardhaman district, 230km northwest off Kolkata, worried when their daughter quit her job to make her first feature. "We sent her to a modest village school, had no knowledge of films. We only enjoyed Uttam Kumar, Suchitra Sen, hit songs like Ei poth jodi na sesh hoy," Brahmananda said.

Brahmananda, a retired Eastern Coalfield Limited employee, lives in a flat in Kulti with Manisha. Word of their daughter's Venice triumph has already reached their ancestral village in Narayanpur. "We are waiting for her to come home so we can visit together," he said.

The father had challenged her obsession with cinema and feared for her marriage prospects. "She insisted marriage could wait. Now, after her victory and all the accolades, we feel proud," Manisha said.

She remembered her husband once asked their daughter if she thought she could hold a lamp to Ray. Anuparna had one request: give her a chance. Today, her mother has only one wish - to cook her daughter's favourite dishes when she returns.

Crew members echoed the pride. Sakyadeb Chowdhury, SRFTI alumnus and second-unit DOP with her in Venice, credited her "courage to show things as they are". He said she insisted on long takes, no cut-ins, and turned limitations into new aesthetics. "I hope her win inspires other filmmakers," he said.

--------------------------------------

Anuparna Roy is a mix of emotions — happy, tired, and content — as she talks about her historic win at the Venice International Film Festival, where she became the first Indian to bag the Best Director award for Songs of Forgotten Trees in the Orizzonti Competition section.

With everyone around telling her about her creating history, she tells us, “All these statements are making me humble. I cannot lie back and enjoy hearing that I have created history. Come on! I am inspired by many other and better women filmmakers from within and outside India. It’s not just me; it’s cinema which has created history again. I would love to give the award to cinema, and my love for it.”

Songs of Forgotten Trees was the only Indian selection in the Orizzonti Competition section this year. As she accepted the award at the festival, Anuparna reveals that her mind was on her own journey and the responsibility that comes with recognition. “I remembered how Anurag (Kashyap, presenter) phrased it to me, that winning an award is not just bringing reputation but also responsibility… to make better films and better craft, even when you are uncomfortable,” she says.

She tells us that she dedicates this award to “all the beautiful women out there” and to her hometown, Purulia, in West Bengal. She says, “I have seen the women’s lives there. If any of them, after seeing this, can raise their voices, it would be great. It will be sufficient for me to keep myself motivated.”

Sharing further, Anuparna says that making a film centred on women and their intimacy, with full support from an all-male team, was deeply affirming. “It was definitely tough, but the kind of backing I received set an example for the world. Gender is literally secondary,” she says, adding, “My whole film was backed by men, and then Anurag sir was a bonus. For a film talking about friendship, outside the film too, the team members were friends and close. This is huge.”