How the distress call of a Palestinian child was turned into an Oscar contender

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Hearing Hind Rajab’s voice had a profound impact on Kaouther Ben Hania. In January 2024, the five-year-old Palestinian girl called paramedics from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society while trapped in a car in Gaza City and under fire from Israeli forces.

Hind was found dead after a terrifying attack that killed her family. Investigators later found the car she was in, a black Kia, riddled with 355 bullet holes.

I was absolutely heartbroken hearing that 70-minute audio of Hind’s desperate call for help. It’s just devastating, and she’s unfortunately become a face for all the innocent children who’ve been killed in the awful conflict that started in Gaza after the attacks on October 7th, 2023. It’s a tragedy that keeps weighing on my mind.

Ben Hania recalls being deeply moved the first time he heard her voice. He felt a strong sense of helplessness regarding the situation in Gaza, and her direct plea for help only intensified that feeling. He realized this was a story cinema could powerfully convey.

A Palestinian story “should be told by Palestinian actors”

As a critic, I recently learned about a fascinating shift in plans for the director of films like ‘The Man Who Sold His Skin’ and ‘Four Daughters.’ She was already gearing up for a new project, but felt compelled to change course. She told me, and it really resonated, that this other story simply needed to be told immediately. It was a powerful sense of urgency that drove her decision.

Putting her other work on hold, Ben Hania had a groundbreaking idea: to create a film based entirely around audio. The movie takes place in a Red Crescent call center and features actors playing the volunteers, responding to the actual distress calls from Hind as they urgently try to rescue her.

Ben Hania made sure to speak with Hind’s mother right away. He felt he couldn’t make the film without her blessing, explaining, ‘It’s her child, and losing a child is incredibly painful for any parent. If she hadn’t wanted me to tell this story, I wouldn’t have.’

Honestly, speaking with Hind’s mother was incredibly difficult, but also deeply moving. Despite the pain, she gave her blessing to the film, telling me she didn’t want her daughter to be forgotten. What really struck me was her plea for justice – she explicitly asked me to use the movie, however harrowing, to help achieve that. It was a powerful moment, and I feel a huge responsibility to honor her wishes.

Ben Hania decided not to cast an actress to play Hind, wanting to use the real audio of Hind instead. She felt it would be disrespectful to create a fake voice and didn’t want to put that burden on a young actress. She describes the idea as being in ‘bad taste’.

She specifically chose Palestinian actors to play the volunteers in the film. She felt it was important for the story, which centers on Palestine, to be told by Palestinian voices, and the events in Gaza have created a sense of shared identity for many.

I found this film incredibly gripping, though often difficult to watch. Director Erige Sehiri, through the character of Omar (played with heartbreaking desperation by Motaz Malhees), really captures the frustrating, almost absurd bureaucracy of life under occupation – what she calls a ‘Kafkaesque machine.’ The film brilliantly shows how Omar’s attempts to organize a rescue are constantly blocked, not by malice, but by endless, pointless rules. It makes you ask, as the director points out, who created these obstacles in the first place, and why?

Occupation means imposing rules to make life unbearable for those you control. These rules, even when followed, don’t offer safety – as tragically illustrated by what happened to Hind, who was still harmed despite adhering to them.

Ethical quandaries and divisive reactions

The film debuted at the Venice Film Festival last September to a hugely emotional reaction. It moved critics to tears and earned an incredible 23-minute standing ovation – the longest ever recorded at the festival.

I remember being completely swept away by the emotion in the theater. You could actually hear people crying, and then when the movie ended, the applause just didn’t stop! It went on and on, and I honestly wondered if they ever would stop. Eventually, they had to start the next film to finally get everyone to quiet down.

The film has sparked a lot of disagreement. Director Ben Hania explains that the producers received thousands of emails criticizing the project, with some accusing it of antisemitism and arguing it shouldn’t be made.

The producers were advised to focus on the impact to Israelis, highlighting that over 250 were taken hostage and many killed during the Hamas attack on October 7th.

Some critics have suggested that Ben Hania overly manipulated the film’s emotional impact. Variety magazine noted that while some viewers will find the film deeply affecting, others might feel Ben Hania unnecessarily amplified the already strong emotions of the story with manipulative techniques.

Some people have raised ethical concerns about the movie’s use of Hind’s audio, arguing that the footage is too disturbing to include.

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How did Ben Hania react to the criticism? “It was difficult to hear,” he says. “I made this film while grieving, but also out of love. My main goal was to honor the woman at the heart of the story, give her a platform, and encourage viewers to see things from the perspective of Palestinians, especially those dedicated to saving lives through humanitarian work.”

We primarily wanted to remember and celebrate her life, ensuring she wouldn’t be forgotten. Remembering her also helps us understand the grief felt by families who have lost children.

At the Venice Film Festival, the film received the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize, a major award second only to the top prize given to Jim Jarmusch’s film, Father Mother Sister Brother. The jury, headed by director Alexander Payne (known for The Holdovers), reportedly had differing opinions on the winning films.

From a struggle for distribution to Oscar contention and long-term impact

Following its debut at the Venice Film Festival, the film faced difficulties securing distribution in the US, despite positive reviews. The director explained that independent filmmaking is always a challenge, especially when you don’t come from a traditionally privileged background or create mainstream, English-language movies.

Getting any film seen in theaters is always a challenge, and Arabic-language films that rely on subtitles are often seen as appealing to a very limited audience. Considering those factors, plus the film’s political themes, I wasn’t surprised by the difficulties it faced.

Ben Hania’s film received a boost from several well-known Hollywood stars. Actors Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara publicly supported the movie at the Venice Film Festival, and Brad Pitt joined filmmakers Jonathan Glazer and Alfonso Cuarón as executive producers, all to help increase awareness for the project.

Ben Hania explained it was a genuine outpouring of support, saying, ‘It felt like people truly loved the movie and wanted to show it support.’ He was deeply moved by the audience’s reaction, admitting he never imagined it would resonate with them so strongly. ‘It’s incredible,’ he added.

The film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globes, but didn’t win—the Brazilian film The Secret Agent took home the award. Now, many believe it’s a strong contender for an Oscar. Does the filmmaker think it will receive a nomination, or even win?

Honestly, I’m really unsure what will happen. It’s a peculiar situation, and I’m hoping for the best. There are just a lot of films competing for Oscars this year – and many of them are excellent. We’ve got Park Chan-wook’s “No Other Choice,” Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just An Accident,” and “Sentimental Value,” plus Colombia’s “Poeta.” It’s a really strong field with so many wonderful movies.

Beyond its artistic merit, could a film like The Voice of Hind Rajab actually help people understand the reality of humanitarian crises? Viewers at film festivals have been deeply affected by the film, particularly by Hind’s voice, which resonates in a way that typical news coverage doesn’t. It might be because the film personalizes the tragedy – giving a face and voice to the victims, rather than just presenting them as numbers in a death toll.

Ben Hania observes that the story being told is that Gazans are simply ‘collateral damage’ – seen as nameless, faceless, and almost nonexistent. He points out a dangerous trend of all victims being labeled as terrorists or affiliated with Hamas. He made his film to counter this narrative, to remind people that these are individuals with families and lives – like the little girl and her brother playing on the beach – and not just statistics or ‘collateral damage’.

It’s noteworthy that the new podcast, The Voice of Hind Rajab, launched at the same time as Hamas released Israeli hostages they had captured in October 2023, following a ceasefire agreement. Despite this positive development, Ben Hania is still worried about the future and the ongoing suffering. The trauma from this conflict will likely affect generations to come.

“The injury hasn’t stopped bleeding,” she said, her voice laced with distress. “Can anything be fixed? How do we move forward? I want to discuss making things different, but everything feels so raw right now. I made the film, but I doubt it will truly capture Hind’s spirit. It just won’t.”

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The Voice of Hind Rajab is in UK cinemas now.

Authors

James Mottram

James Mottram is a London-based film critic, journalist, and author.

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2026-01-16 10:45