📽 On 29 January, 2024, six-year-old Hind was trapped inside a car on a street in northern Gaza, surrounded by the bodies of six of her family members. This young, sole survivor was alone, terrified and in hiding from the horrors of war. Today, Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania immortalizes her in The Voice of Hind Rajab, touring international festivals to open the eyes of those who have yet to realize that the world contains atrocities beyond human comprehension.

The film takes place inside a Red Crescent office in Ramallah, the West Bank, one of the few rescue centers that remain functional. Rescue worker Omar (Motaz Malhees) and his supervisor Rana (Saja Kilani) communicate with Hind, who’s still hiding in the car, petrified by the tanks and pleading for rescue. The film showcases the overwhelming amount of procedures and permits rescue workers must navigate in coordination with the occupation army to secure a specific corridor for an ambulance. Even after receiving the green light, the occupation army can still kill whomever they wish. That is exactly what happened.

The story presented by Ben Hania leaves no room for imagination. The events are anything but fiction, and the recordings used are authentic. Ben Hania only utilized actors to reenact what occurred inside the rescue center that day. Upon watching the film, viewers realize that even if these actors were relatively inexperienced, they were wholly immersed in their roles, deeply moved as though they were the actual aid workers racing against time to save the now six-year-old Palestinian martyr.

The film garnered the support of some Hollywood’s biggest names, with Brad Pitt and Joaquin Phoenix coming on as executive producers, and participated in several major festivals worldwide garnering numerous award nominations including Best Foreign Film at the Golden Globes and securing the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. The filmmakers are pushing towards Academy Awards, with the film reaching the shortlist for Best Live Action Short Film, placing it one step away from the final nominations.

It’s painful, it’s tragic, and it’s undeniably difficult to watch — yet it’s an essential film that deserves screentime in theatres all around the world. The film unravels just one of an insurmountable number of stories that happened on the ground in Gaza, and serves as an immortalization of the injustices and atrocities faced by Gazans daily. It is our hope that Hind, and all the other Hinds murdered in cold blood, may find eternal peace in a world other than this one. There’s not much else we can say to brace you for what lies within the film, just make sure you’re emotionally prepared.

WHERE TO WATCH- You can catch the film at Zawya. Watch the trailer on YouTube (runtime: 2:02).

Tags: