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The Voice of Hind Rajab


The Voice of Hind Rajab is a very confronting film that uses real emergency recordings to tell the story of Hind Rajab, a 6 year old Palestinian girl trapped under siege in northern Gaza in early 2024.

Tunisian writer/director Kaouther Ben Hania apparently paused work on another film when she heard the audio of the calls between Hind and the Palestine Red Crescent Society in order to get this film made. And it's a timely reminder of the crimes of this current Israeli government.


The film starts in the offices of the Red Crescent, a West Bank based rescue agency, when Omar (Motaz Malhees) gets a call from a man in Germany explaining that his family are stuck in a car that's been attacked. Omar contacts a young woman in the car but is cut off by the sounds of gunfire. When the call is reconnected, it's soon discovered that the only person still alive in the car is a 6 year old girl, Hind.

The sole way to save her is to coordinate with the Israeli army, via the Red Cross to allow the ambulance safe passage. The tension while this bureaucracy plays out is beyond enjoyable, especially as we know this is all based on real events. Omar's emotional state begins to deteriorate, as does his relationship with his colleague Madhi (Amer Hlehel), who's trying to do things correctly. They've already lost too many rescuers.


More colleagues become involved - supervisor Rana (Saja Kilani) and counsellor Nisreen (Clara Khoury) take turns on the phone, in an attempt to comfort the child. Tempers fray, tears are shed, despair and hope run alongside one another. This whole event puts our cushy Western lives into perspective.

The film's real heft is at the end when it changes to pure documentary footage (camera phones, interviews, etc.). It suddenly hits home that these were real people and it's pretty hard to take. I don't think I've muttered 'motherfuckers' under my breath more often in a cinema.

The Voice of Hind Rajab is super important viewing. If you're not angry yet, watch this film. It's screening over three nights as part of the Perth Festival at UWA Somerville from Feb 16 to 18.

See also:

The location reminded me of the compact Danish thriller The Guilty (2018), directed by Gustav Möller. Look, I can't come up with anything thematically comparable that I've seen. I need to see more Palestinian films.
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