The Voice of Hind Rajab
On January 28, 2024, Israel ordered evacuations in Gaza City and the Palestinian Red Emergency Center fifty miles away in Ramallah was busy fielding calls for folks who needed help. But Omar (Motaz Malhees, "Speak No Evil") would get a distressing call from Germany from a man whose brother's car had been hit by a tank near a gas station while attempting to flee. Calling the number given to him, Omar won't speak to the driver but a young survivor, Lian, who declares 'they're shooting at us' in "The Voice of Hind Rajab."
Laura's Review: B+
Three films about Palestine were submitted for the International Oscar this year, one from Palestine ("Palestine 36"), one from Jordan ("All That's Left of You") and this one from Tunisian writer/director Kaouther Ben Hania ("The Man Who Sold His Skin," "Four Daughters") which is the only of the three focused on the current war in Gaza. Many will remember the horrifying tale of Israeli forces killing both the frightened girl and those manning the ambulance who attempted to save her, a tragedy the IDF initially denied but which investigative reporting determined to be true.
What Ben Hania has done is taken the actual recordings of Hind Rajab's desperate pleas for help and given us the perspective of the Red Crescent volunteers frustrated and agonized in their attempts to save her. Some have called this exploitation, but it is a recreation of a horrific Israeli war crime in docudrama format. Hind's mother, Wissam Hamada, not only supports the film, but collaborated with its director in an effort to raise awareness and save Gaza's children.
Ben Hania begins with a cliche, but one that is possibly true. Right before receiving the phone call that would demand all their attention for over three hours, staff were about to leave their shifts for the day, shift supervisor Rana (Saja Kilani) declaring she has one more thing to do before she goes. But she'll notice a stricken Omar, who believes he's just heard the death of everyone in the car he'd called when Lian's call went dead. Her uncle will call again from Germany, though, stating that although his fourteen year-old niece appears to have been killed, there is still a panicked six year-old, Lian's cousin Hind, injured but still alive. Omar will call back, alternately trying to get information from the girl while trying to keep her calm with assurances that help is on the way. At first she will tell him her aunt, uncle and four cousins are all asleep.
As tensions rise within the center, Omar will have several screaming matches with Mahdi (Amer Hlehel, "Paradise Now"), the man who sits in a glass walled office coordinating rescue efforts. Mahdi cannot speak to the IDF directly, instead contacting the Red Cross, who coordinates sending ambulances after receiving Israeli clearance to do so. While Omar is entirely focused on saving the young girl whose photo has now popped up on his screen, Mahdi is also concerned about the paramedics who enter hazardous conditions, pictures of those lost lining an office wall. The wait is excruciating and when Rana, who has relieved Omar on the phone, breaks down, believing they've lost the girl, the entire process will have to be restarted when they discover she is still with them.
The four main players, which includes Clara Khoury as the Center's overall chief, Nishrin, make us feel the helplessness of those trying to keep hope alive for a terrified six year-old begging for someone to get her out of the line of fire while an Israeli tank sits right beside the car. Over several hours they will try various techniques, distracting her with stories, asking her questions about her life, but it becomes apparent to all that their assurances are sounding weaker and weaker. And then clearance is finally given, paramedics Yousif Zeino and Ahmed al-Madhoun setting off in an ambulance, a few panicked minutes spent rerouting them when they hit an obstacle preventing their passage. But just when they are within sight of Hind's car, everything goes silent.
Ben Hania and her cast convey the cumulative stress that builds from their work done at the Palestinian Red Emergency Center and the overwhelming sense of grief when they lose someone, the Hind Rajab case horrific in so many ways. And yet after the powerful emotions we feel when we realize everything has come to naught and that the unthinkable has happened, when the filmmaker chooses to cut to documentary footage of the wreckage being found, it blunts the impact of what has come before, a harrowing docudrama become nightly news footage of devastation that cannot match the race against time trying to save the six year-old girl pictured on Omar's screen.
Robin's Review: B
Willa released "The Voice of Hind Rajab" in select theaters on 12/17/2025. It goes wide on 1/9/2026.
