A Palestinian drama carried by the greatest voices of world cinema
Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Alfonso Cuarón and Jonathan Glazer have just joined the project The Voice of Hind Rajab /La Voix by Hind Rajab as executive producers. This massive support for major Hollywood figures propels the film by Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, already twice named to the Oscars, to the major event of the Venice Mostra. More than a simple gesture of solidarity, it is an artistic and political commitment that places the fate of the little Hind Rajab at the heart of the concerns of world cinema.
An essential director of contemporary Arab cinema, Kaouther Ben Hania won on the international scene with The Man Who Sold His Skin (2020), appointed to the Oscar for the best international film, and Daughters oven /Olfa girls (2023), in the running for The Oscar for best documentary. His new film, Who tells the last hours of the six -year -old Palestinian child killed in Gaza in January 2024, will be screened worldwide on September 3 in Venice. Through its radical device – filming in a single place, use of the real audio recording of the call using Hind as a central narrative thread – The Voice of Hind Rajab presents itself as a work of universal memory, a cry now relayed by the most influential voices of industry.
A voice that does not go out
Hind Rajab, six, died in Gaza in January 2024 after being trapped in a bombed car, surrounded by the lifeless bodies of his relatives. His latest call to the Palestinian Red Crescent, recorded and distributed on the Internet, still resonates as a cry of helplessness. Kaouther Ben Hania told how much this moment had turned her own journey upset:
“” Then everything changed. I heard a Hind Rajab audio recording imploring help. At that time, his voice had already spread on the internet ”, she says. “I immediately felt a mixture of immense helplessness and sadness. A physical reaction, as if the soil had collapsed under my feet. I could no longer continue as planned. »»
Shot in one place, the film refuses spectacular reconstruction to focus on the fear, silence and loneliness of the child. “” Hind Rajab’s voice is a deeply personal story of loss, but it also has a wider resonance. This story does not only concern Gaza. It testifies to universal mourning. Cinema can preserve memory. Cinema can withstand amnesia. May Hind Rajab’s voice be heard. »»
When Hollywood begins
The strength of the film convinced real giants of international cinema to join the project as executive producers. Brad Pitt and his company Plan B – Alongside his associates in Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner – are at the top of this unprecedented support. Their banner has already worn from oscarained films like 12 Years a Slave,, Moonlight Or The Tree of Life.
Alongside them, Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara, Hollywood figures known for their artistic and political commitment, bring their notoriety and their conviction. Alfonso Cuarón, Oscar -winning director of Gravity And Romaadds his universally respected author aura. And finally Jonathan Glazer, crowned with the Oscar for best international film in 2024 for The Zone of Interestgives this project a singular political and memorial depth.
Jonathan Glazer, a thematic resonance
With The Zone of Interest,, Glazer had upset by his way of filming the banality of evil on the sidelines of the holocaust. By receiving his Oscar, he said:
“” Our film shows where dehumanization leads in its worst consequences. It has shaped our past and our present. Today, we are here, men who deny their Judeity and the Holocaust, diverted by an occupation that has led to conflicts for so many innocent people. »»
Words that had triggered a controversy, some qualifying it as an anti -Semitic. But an open letter signed by more than 150 Jewish personalities, including Joaquin Phoenix, had come to defend the filmmaker and denounce an unjust attack, recalling that attention should be focused on the current tragedy in Gaza. By joining the project of Kaouther Ben Hania, Jonathan Glazer continues his reflection on memory, dehumanization and the need to testify.
International production
Alongside these major figures, other influential personalities have committed: Jemima Khan, Frank Giustra, Sabine Getty, as well as renowned producers such as Odessa Rae (Navalny), James Wilson (The Zone of Interest) and Nadim Cheikhrouha, loyal collaborator of Ben Hania. The project also received the support of Sunnyland, Geralyn Dreyfous, Jorie Graham, Amed Khan, Rambourg, from the Tunisian Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Watermelon, Sawsan Asfari, 1888 films, the Doha Film Institute and Barc Productions.
The casting brings together Saja Kilani, Motaz Malhees, Clara Khoury and Amer Hlehel. International sales are provided by The Party Film Sales and CAA.
A film already announced as striking
Alberto Barbera, director of the Mostra, has already presented The Voice of Hind Rajab Like one of the most powerful works of this 82ᵉ edition. In competition for the golden lion, the film will face in particular Frankenstein by Guillermo del Toro, No Other Choice by Park Chan-Wook and A House of Dynamite from Kathryn Bigelow.
The film’s journey will not stop in Venice: it is already announced in Toronto, Saint-Sébastien, Busan and London, confirming its status as a real world event.
A festival under political tension
At the same time, the political climate already surrounds the Mostra. Hundreds of Italian and international artists – including Ken Loach, the Italian actor Toni Servillo, the French directors Céline Sciamma and Audrey Diwan, as well as the Palestinian duo Arab Nasser and Tarzan Nasser – have signed an open letter asking the festival to condemn what they describe as genocide and ethnic cleaning in Gaza.
Neïla Driss
