Kaouther Ben Hania – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

MOVIE OF THE WEEK December 19, 2025: THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB

December 14, 2025December 15, 2025 Jennifer Merin Amer Hlehel, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, Gaza, Hind Rajab, israel, jennifer merin, Kaouther Ben Hania, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, Motaz Malhees, motw, Palestine, Red Crescent, Red Cross, Saja Kilani, sandie angulo chen, sherin nicole, The Voice of Hind Rajab

A mix of heartbreaking reality and dramatic reenactments, Kaouther Ben Hania’s intense The Voice of Hind Rajab humanizes — in a horribly tragic way — the impact of the deadly conflict between Israel and Palestine. It’s impossible not to be moved as the film tells the true story of a young girl trapped in a bullet-riddled vehicle while aid workers desperately try to overcome the odds to rescue her. This would be a harrowing story in any circumstances, but the fact that Ben Hania uses the actual recordings of Hind’s conversations with the Red Crescent staff members makes it nearly unbearably distressing. She is vulnerable, bewildered, frightened, demanding — in other words, she is a very real, very traumatized child, and your heart shatters for her, as well as for those who are trying so hard to help her.

Reviews

THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB – Review by Leslie Combemale

December 8, 2025December 13, 2025 Leslie Combemale Amer Hlehel, Clara Khoury, Gaza, Hind Rajab, israel, Kaouther Ben Hania, Motaz Malhees, motw, Palestine, Red Crescent, Red Cross, Saja Kilani, The Voice of Hind Rajab

The Voice of Hind Rajab 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.

Festivals

FALL FESTIVAL PREVIEW 2025 – Christina Jeurling Birro reports

July 29, 2025August 3, 2025 Christina Jeurling Birro Agnieszka Holland, chloe zhao, fall film festivals, Kaouther Ben Hania, kathryn bigelow, laura poitras, Mona Fastvold, nia dacosta, scarlett johansson, sofia coppola, toronto international film festival, Venice International Film Festival

Bigelow’s back, Zhao tackles Shakespeare, and More as the fall film festivals unveil their lineups. The fall film festival season kicks off on the Lido in Venice in less than a month, then rolls on from the mountains of Telluride to Toronto, and beyond. This year promises a strong showing from female directors across many lineups. Here are just a few of the exciting films to keep your eyes on!

Reviews

FOUR DAUGHTERS – Review by Jennifer Green

October 16, 2023October 22, 2023 Jennifer Green documentary, Eya, Four Daughters, Ichrak Matar, Kaouther Ben Hania, Les Filles d’Olfa, Nour Karoui, Olfa, Oscars submission, Tayssir, tunisian films

Tunisia’s official entry for the International Film Feature film Oscar, Four Daughters is a deeply emotional story told in captivating fashion by combining real people and actors in an unusual blend of reenactments and conversations. The film doesn’t unfurl in straight chronological order. Subjects regularly stop to talk to the camera or to each other about what’s going on in a scene or how they feel now. They’re often framed in doorways or glimpsed in mirrors, perhaps symbolic of the way they are letting us enter their lives and how they’re seeing their own story reflected in reenactments and acting.

Reviews

THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS SKIN – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

April 2, 2021April 2, 2021 Valerie Kalfrin Kaouther Ben Hania, Koen De Bouw, monica bellucci, oscars, The Man Who Sold His Skin, Yahya Mahayni

Some tattoos have such design and craftsmanship, they’re works of art. But what happens when a tattoo transforms someone into living artwork, effectively dehumanizing them? The Man Who Sold His Skin, an Oscar-nominee for Best International Feature Film, puts this dilemma on display through Sam, a Syrian refugee who consents to a full-back tattoo of a visa, then finds that this literal stamp of freedom confines him in other ways.