Der neue Film von Kaouther Ben Hania („Olfas Töchter“) war „der Film der Stunde“ (Der Standard) bei den Filmfestspielen von Venedig. THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB wurde nach der Premiere mit rekordverdächtigen 23 Minuten Standing Ovations gefeiert und mit dem  Großen Preis der Jury ausgezeichnet. Der Spielfilm, der auf echten Telefonaufzeichnungen eines realen Falls basiert, gilt jetzt als großer Oscar-Favorit.

Official Clip (Trailer folgt)

29. Januar 2024. Freiwillige des Roten Halbmonds erhalten einen Notruf. Ein 6-jähriges Mädchen ist in einem unter Beschuss stehenden Auto in Gaza gefangen und fleht um Rettung. Während sie versuchen, sie am Telefon zu halten, tun sie alles, um eine Ambulanz zu ihr zu schicken. Ihr Name war Hind Rajab.

Filmfestspiele Venedig 2025: Silbener Löwe (Großer Preis der Jury)
Tunesiens Oscar-Kandidat 2026: Bester Internationaler Film

»Eine zarte und erschütternde Elegie.«

Indiewire

»Ein Film von enormer Kraft!«

The Hollywood Reporter

»Der Film der Stunde….THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB dürfte damit der direkte Weg von Venedig zu den Oscars vorgezeichnet sein. Aus dem Wettbewerb der diesjährigen Filmfestspiele sticht dieser Film diesbezüglich deutlich heraus.«

Der Standard

 

Bericht von der Venedig-Premiere:

Regie-Statement:
„I am deeply honored that THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB has been selected for the Competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival. My heartfelt thanks to Alberto Barbera and the entire selection committee for offering this incredible spotlight on the film.

There was something electric in the energy around this project so immediate, so alive. In all my years as a filmmaker, I never imagined it would be possible to go from start to finish in just 12 months.

Here’s how it all began: I was in the middle of the Oscar campaign for Four Daughters, and mentally preparing to finally enter pre-production on a film I had been writing for ten years. Then, during a layover at LAX, everything shifted. I heard an audio recording of Hind Rajab begging for help. By then, her voice had already spread across the internet.

I immediately felt a mix of helplessness, and an overwhelming sadness. A physical reaction, like the ground shifted under me. I couldn’t carry on as planned.

I contacted the Red Crescent and asked them to let me hear the full audio. It was about 70 minutes long, and harrowing.

After listening to it, I knew, without a doubt, that I had to drop everything else. I had to make this film.

I spoke at length with Hind’s mother, with the real people who were on the other end of that call, those who tried to help her. I listened, I cried, I wrote.

Then I wove a story around their testimonies, using the real audio recording of Hind’s voice, and building a single-location film where the violence remains off-screen. That was a deliberate choice. Because violent images are everywhere on our screens, our timelines, our phones.

What I wanted was to focus on the invisible: the waiting, the fear, the unbearable sound of silence when help doesn’t come. Sometimes, what you don’t see is more devastating than what you do.

At the heart of this film is something very simple, and very hard to live with. I cannot accept a world where a child calls for help and no one comes. That pain, that failure, belongs to all of us. This story is not just about Gaza. It speaks to a universal grief. And I believe that fiction (especially when it draws from verified, painful, real events) is cinema’s most powerful tool. More powerful than the noise of breaking news or the forgetfulness of scrolling. Cinema can preserve a memory. Cinema can resist amnesia.

May Hind Rajab’s voice be heard.“