In this episode of Culture Bites, hosts Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews take a closer look at the reactions to The Voice of Hind Rajab at the Venice Film Festival.

The film uses real audio from the harrowing distress call of a five-year-old girl trapped in a car in Gaza as she came under Israeli fire. It won a Silver Lion and received a record-breaking standing ovation, but some critics called it out for using “tear-jerking tactics”.

Enas and Farah talk about the director’s response in an interview she gave to The National, and discuss the profound impact the film could have on audiences.

In the literary world, a new book by Indian author Chetan Bhagat has stirred up controversy over its age-gap love story. The novel, 12 Years: My Messed-up Love Story, centres on a relationship between a 33-year-old and a 21-year-old.

Social media users called it “creepy” but is this age difference really so strange? The hosts reflect on different cultural norms when it comes to age and look back at examples in literature.