In the press kit for her new film THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB, director Kaouther Ben Hania writes that cinema “doesn’t report, it remembers. It doesn’t argue, it makes you feel.”
And that’s exactly what this film does. No matter where you stand on the complicated realpolitik of the region, THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB hits with a force that bypasses policy and lands straight in the heart. We defy anyone to not be moved – to not FEEL – the anguish of the true-life story told in this devastating film.
The film revisits the true story of six-year-old Hind Rajab, trapped inside her family’s car in Gaza after an attack left her surrounded by the bodies of her aunts, uncles, and cousins. As she calls for help, workers from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society try to keep her calm while desperately trying to arrange safe passage for an ambulance to come rescue her.
Ben Hania uses the actual emergency call recording, interwoven with actors portraying the Red Crescent responders, to create a film that plays like a taut thriller—visceral, exacting, and emotionally overwhelming. Though based on true events and grounded in meticulous research, the film is not a documentary. Coming from a filmmaker nominated for both Best International Feature and Best Documentary, that distinction is deliberate. This is narrative cinema designed to make us feel, first and foremost.
Selected as Tunisia’s official Oscar submission for Best International Feature, THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB opens in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on December 17, before expanding across the U.S. in the following weeks. The film was recently announced as having made the Academy Awards shortlist in the Best International Feature category.
To understand how this extraordinary film came to be—and how its director approached one of the most harrowing stories of the year—join us for our conversation with Kaouther Ben Hania, starting now on INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE.
