TUNISIAN filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania used her acceptance speech at the Cinema for Peace gala in Berlin to deliver a blistering political rebuke, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

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.

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.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2026