Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania says her new film about six-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab was made to confront helplessness and bear witness to her story.
Ben Hania decided to make the film after hearing an emergency phone call recording of Hind pleading for help while trapped in Gaza City in 2024.
“They’re shooting at me. Please come get me. I’m scared,” Hind is heard saying in the recording, which forms the centrepiece of the docudrama The Voice of Hind Rajab, released in UK cinemas last week.
The two-time Oscar-nominated director said the recording “haunted” her and led her to pause another project.
“I was angry, sad and felt helpless. I asked myself what I could do. I am a filmmaker, so I make films,” she told the BBC.
Hind Rajab was travelling with her family when their car was hit during Israeli military operations in Gaza. Several relatives were killed. Hind later spoke by phone with volunteers from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, who tried to guide an ambulance to reach her. The ambulance was also struck, killing Hind, her family members and two paramedics.
Independent investigations by Forensic Architecture, Earshot and journalists from Al Jazeera concluded the damage to the car and ambulance was consistent with Israeli tank fire. The Israel Defence Force said the case remains under review.
The film is told from the perspective of Red Crescent call centre workers in Ramallah and combines real audio from Hind’s final calls with dramatized reconstruction.
Ben Hania said the film, based on true events, aims to provoke empathy rather than serve as an investigation.
The film received a record 23-minute standing ovation at its Venice Film Festival premiere and has been nominated for best foreign language film at the Golden Globe Awards, with an Academy Award nomination shortlist place.
Ben Hania said she hopes Hind Rajab will not be forgotten. “This is not just a story,” she said. “This is history in the making.”
