THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB – Review by Leslie Combemale
Writer/director Kaouther Ben Hania’s narrative The Voice of Hind Rajab was screened at the Middleburg Film Festival and I’m so incredibly grateful I didn’t watch it there. Within 20 minutes, I was a blubbering mess, and I would have wept through the whole movie surrounded by annoyed fest goers. The film is a docudrama that dramatizes the true story of the Red Crescent (a humanitarian force that works to prevent and alleviate human suffering and is there in crisis situations, including wars) that on January 29th, 2024, tried to rescue a six year old Palestinian girl trapped in a car in Gaza. All members of her family that were in the car were killed when the Israeli Defense Forces opened fire, and she alone survived. She calls the emergency line, and Red Crescent volunteers keep her on the line while they try to get an ambulance to her, which is a complicated and dangerous proposition.
What makes this film incredibly moving and riveting is the fact that Ben Hania uses actual recordings of Hind from that day, and it’s increasingly heartbreaking as it becomes apparent she is not likely going to survive the day. The coordinator in charge is loathe to send rescue workers without a safe path to the wreckage, as he has already lost many in the weeks he’s been sending them out. The volunteers become more and more emotionally connected and attached to Hind’s survival, and it’s clear they are being traumatized in real time. At times, Ben Hania juxtaposes the actors against recordings of the real life workers and Hind herself, as she repeatedly begs to be saved. It is excruciating to watch, and even worse knowing these are the real recordings, and we are bearing witness to Hind’s fear and suffering.
The film got a 23 minute standing ovation when it premiered at the Venice Film Festival, which is a new record for the longest standing ovation at a film festival. Some say that Ben Hania is sensationalizing or leveraging a child’s pain for the sake of her film, but I disagree. This is a true story of a war crime, and since Hind Rajab, as well as two ambulance drivers died that day, I think the film does justice to their memory in a way that little else could. People’s opinions about the Gaza war differ dramatically, but one thing is indisputable. Killing an unarmed child is wrong, no matter the circumstances. Given that, Kaouther Ben Hania’s film shows art really can reveal the best and worst of humanity.
5 out of 5 stars
