The Voice of Hind Rajab premieres at Venice with global impact

In January 2024, a six-year-old girl named Hind Rajab made a desperate call for help while trapped inside a bullet-riddled car in Gaza City. Her voice, pleading for rescue, was heard by emergency dispatchers of the Palestine Red Crescent Society. After the first ambulance lost contact, Hind, five family members, and two medics were found dead 12 days later.

Inside Kaouther Ben Hania’s urgent new film on Hind Rajab

That call and its haunting audio have since travelled far beyond Gaza, sparking protests, inspiring songs and, now, a powerful film by Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania. The Voice of Hind Rajab, which premieres at the Venice Film Festival this week, revisits that fateful day through a unique cinematic lens.

Rather than recreating the violence on screen, Ben Hania keeps the story within the Red Crescent dispatch centre. The film uses real recordings of Hind’s call, paired with actors portraying the responders, creating a tense, immersive experience.

“When you hear her voice you feel powerless,” Ben Hania told The Associated Press. The filmmaker recalls the moment she first listened to the audio as an overwhelming experience—one that left her wondering what she could do. “I felt like she was asking me to rescue her,” she said. “It’s not rational because I knew the tragedy had already happened. But the only thing I know how to do is tell stories.”

Ben Hania’s urgency to tell Hind’s story meant putting another project on hold and accelerating production. Her first step was reaching out to Hind’s mother, Wissam Hamadah, who gave her blessing and spoke of Hind’s love for the sea and her dream of becoming a dentist.

The film stars Palestinian actors, including Saja Kilani, Motaz Malhees, Clara Khoury and Amer Hlehel. Ben Hania said authenticity was essential, and the presence of Hind’s real voice during the shoot often left the cast and crew in tears. “They are great actors, but when they heard that voice, it was beyond acting,” she said.

For Ben Hania, avoiding graphic imagery was deliberate. “We see horror all over the internet. The world has become almost insensitive,” she explained. Instead, the film focuses on the unseen urgency, emotional weight and bureaucratic obstacles within the rescue mission—an approach she calls “the best way to honour something sacred, the voice of this little girl.”

The production itself carried a sense of collective grief. Crew members were frequently moved to tears, and the actors responded to the reality of the audio rather than fabricated lines. “It was beyond fiction,” Ben Hania reflected.

Following its completion, The Voice of Hind Rajab attracted major industry names as executive producers, including Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Alfonso Cuarón and Jonathan Glazer. Tunisia has also submitted the film as its candidate for Best International Feature at the Oscars. Ben Hania is no stranger to the Academy, with previous nominations for Four Daughters (Best Documentary) and The Man Who Sold His Skin (Best International Feature).

While the film does not yet have a North American release, Ben Hania hopes it reaches global audiences. “I don’t want to tell the audience what to take away,” she said. “I just want them to see it.”

As the Venice Film Festival continues, The Voice of Hind Rajab stands out as a poignant reminder of storytelling’s power to preserve memory and confront loss without sensationalism.

For more updates, join/follow our WhatsApp, Telegram and YouTube channels.