Can "The Voice of Hind Rajab" Change the Course of History? Venice Film Festival 2025

Palestinian girl Hind Rajab poses for a photograph in undated handout picture obtained by Reuters on February 10, 2024
[Palestine Red Crescent Society/Family Handout via Reuters]

(Venice, Italy) Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Gaza girl, was murdered by Israeli forces moments after the ambulance sent to save her arrived. For hours, she had been trapped in a car at a gas station surrounded by the corpses of her aunt, uncle, and four cousins, who had already been killed by Israeli fire while fleeing Gaza City. When they arrived at the scene, the two ambulance workers were also murdered in cold blood. 

We know this because Hind's terrified voice of a child pleading for help was recorded by the Red Crescent Society on January 29, 2024. The film, "The Voice of Hind Rajab," an entry to La Biennale di Venezia 82 international cinema competition, recreates the anguished conversation with actors playing the Red Crescent workers, reacting to the actual voice of Hind Rajab. 

First, we hear Hind's desperate 15-year-old cousin, Layan Hamadeh, cry, "They are shooting at us. The tank is right next to me. We're in the car. The tank is right next to us." Layan screams as gunfire kills her as we listen. The Red Crescent calls back, and five-year-old Hind answers the phone.

For over three hours, the Red Crescent tried to coordinate a safe route with the Israeli military for the ambulance to travel as they tried to comfort Hind on the phone. The ambulance was located eight minutes away.

Three hours, when the rescuers were only eight minutes away. 

There seems to be confusion as to how old Hind was when she was killed. Some articles have reported her as six years old, and sometimes seven. Hind Rajab was born on May 3, 2018, and was murdered on January 29, 2024, making her five years old when she died. 

Director Kaouther Ben Hania and cast at "The Voice of Hind Rajab" press conference
Photo: Cat Bauer

The audience of journalists wept through the 90-minute screening of "The Voice of Hind Rajab" at the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday. During the press conference, we rose to our feet and applauded when Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania and the members of her cast entered the room. 

At the public premiere later in the afternoon, the standing ovation went on for 23 minutes. 

We applauded the courage it took to make the film and the bravery to present it to the world. We applauded the terrific performances. Personally, I've felt so helpless and frustrated about the genocide going on in Gaza that I applauded because somebody has finally done something to shock the world awake.

You feel sheer horror when you realize that Israel granted two Palestinian paramedics safe passage to travel by ambulance to rescue a five-year-old girl trapped for hours surrounded by army tanks and the corpses of her family, and then deliberately killed all three of them. Evil smacks you right in the soul. 

A later investigation found that an Israeli tank had likely fired 335 rounds on the car that Hind and her family had been in. The ambulance appeared to have been run over by a tank.

Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania said she made a conscious decision not to let her actors hear the voice of Hind Rajab until they were actually filming. "It was a strong desire and the feeling of anger and helplessness that gave birth to this movie." The actors who played the real people in the Red Crescent Society said that hearing Hind's voice was more like a lived experience, not acting.

I hope "The Voice of Hind Rajab" changes the course of history. I hope the film wins the Golden Lion and is zapped with enough golden movie magic to penetrate the inertia that has paralyzed the planet as a genocide goes on while we try to live our everyday lives. 

I hope "The Voice of Hind Rajab" is the impetus needed for humanity to join our voices with Hind's and scream, "Enough!"

Ciao from the Venice Film Festival,

Cat Bauer

Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog