At this year’s Venice Film Festival, the world premiere was held for the film The Voice of Hind Rajab, a harrowing story about a five-year-old girl killed in an Israeli attack on Gaza in January 2024. The work of Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania evoked strong emotions from the audience and critics, and after the screening, it was met with ovations lasting a full 23 minutes.
The film reconstructs the last phone call of little Hind Rajab, who, hiding under the seat in a destroyed car, managed to contact the Palestinian Red Crescent. The bodies of her uncles and four relatives were lying in the vehicle. Hind was the only living person, but she, along with the rescue team that tried to reach her, was killed by Israeli fire.
“When I first heard her voice, I felt that it was not just the voice of one child, but the voice of all of Gaza crying out for help – help that never arrived,” said Ben Hania. The film uses authentic recordings of Hind’s conversation with humanitarian workers but tells the story through a dramatic reconstruction of the Red Crescent team’s work. Critics described it as “the most powerful and urgent work of this year’s festival.”
Actress Saja Kilani highlighted that Hind’s voice symbolizes the tragedy of thousands of children: “Hind is not alone – her voice is one among 19.000 children killed in Gaza over the past two years. It is the voice of parents, doctors, teachers, artists, journalists, rescuers – all whose right to life and dignity was taken before the eyes of the world.”
Palestinian actor Motaz Malhees said the story took him back to his own childhood: “I was not acting, I was living this. I felt as if I had died a thousand times.”
Hind’s mother, Wissam Hamada, expressed hope that the film would help end the war: “The whole world has left us to die, to starve, to live in fear and exile, without anyone’s protection.”
The film was producer-supported by major Hollywood names, including Brad Pitt, Jonathan Glazer, Joaquin Phoenix, and Alfonso Cuaron. Phoenix and actress Rooney Mara attended the Venice premiere and hugged the film team after the screening.
