Keswick Film Club - Voice Of Hind Rajab

Synopsis

Let's do the easy bit first. Directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, Oscar nominated for her 'Four Daughters' that we had at the 2024 Festival, and produced by Brad Pitt, Jonathan Glazer, Joaquin Phoenix and many others: this film has massive backing, and received a 23 minute standing ovation at Venice Film Festival. "As cinema, 'The Voice of Hind Rajab' is formally extraordinary, superbly acted, beautifully shot, and shaped and edited with rare urgency" - Leila Latif, Little White Lies. That's the easy bit - a great film in its own right.

BUT… the point is the story it tells, far more than the aesthetics. Hind Rajab is a five year-old girl attempting to travel across North Gaza with her family when they come under siege from the IDF. Their car is riddled with 355 bullets (yes, this is also based on a true story…) and only Hind Rajab survives. She stays on the phone to the Palestinian Red Crescent for hours begging for an ambulance, but they cannot send one until the IDF give them clearance…

The film is set completely in the Red Crescent office, with actors playing the parts of the volunteers there...but the voice of Hind is taken from real recordings so this is a docudrama. The Red Crescent operators start the mind-bending process to get agreement to send an ambulance the very short journey to where Hind is, but can they get this agreement in time..? Whatever your views on the fighting in Gaza, this little girl demands that we should care, and this film echoes that demand. Not to be missed...