The Voice of Hind Rajab (2025): Ben Hania's Film

It has been nearly two years since the world first learned the name Hind Rajab, and on September 10, 2025, her story reaches the big screen in a drama that is already drawing significant awards-season buzz. The Voice of Hind Rajab, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, recreates the harrowing final hours of a five-year-old girl trapped in a family car under fire in Gaza, and the Red Crescent volunteers who fought to reach her.

The film has earned an extraordinary 8.045/10 rating on TMDb from early viewers, positioning it as one of the most critically lauded releases of the fall. For actress Saja Kilani, who portrays Rana Hassan Faqih, the volunteer who answered Hind's desperate call, the project is a deeply personal milestone. Speaking with Hollywood Buzz News, Kilani reflected on a journey that took her from the classrooms of the Toronto Film School to the precipice of Oscar season.

“I remember sitting in a screening room in Toronto, watching Ben Hania's earlier work, and thinking that this was the kind of filmmaker who could hold a mirror to humanity without flinching,” Kilani said. “To now be part of her vision, to carry the weight of a real woman's voice on the other end of that call, is something I cannot fully put into words.”

A Call That Changed Everything

The film opens on January 29, 2024, when Red Crescent volunteers receive an emergency call from a child. Hind Rajab is trapped in a car, surrounded by gunfire, pleading for rescue. The narrative follows the volunteers as they keep the girl on the line, coordinating an ambulance crew while navigating the chaos of a warzone. The 89-minute drama is a chronological, almost real-time account of the futile race against time.

Kilani's portrayal of Faqih anchors the emotional core of the film. Her scenes are primarily voice-driven, performed in a studio, with the camera focused on her reactions as she hears Hind's pleas. The actress noted this unique challenge required a complete rethinking of performance.

“There was no physical scene partner, no location, just a voice in my ear and the responsibility of a dialogue that actually happened,” Kilani explained. “I had to strip away every theatrical instinct and listen. Truly listen. The gaps in the conversation were the hardest. Those silences contained the sounds of a war, and I had to let them fill me.”

The cast is rounded out by Amer Hlehel as Mahdi M. Aljamal, the ambulance driver who ultimately perishes alongside his colleague attempting the rescue, with Clara Khoury and Nesbat Serhan playing supporting roles. Motaz Malhees appears as Omar A. Alqam, and the film notably uses archival audio of Hind Rajab herself, credited as “Self (Voice - Archive Footage).”

From Toronto Classrooms to the International Stage

Kilani's path to this role was neither quick nor linear. A graduate of the Toronto Film School, she spent years in regional theater and indie shorts before breaking into international productions. She credits her Canadian training with teaching her the discipline required to handle Ben Hania’s demanding, documentary-adjacent style.

“Toronto gave me the technical foundation, the ability to hit a mark and hit an emotion at the same time,” she said. “But it was the school's emphasis on empathy, on understanding the story behind the character, that Ben Hania tested. She demanded a level of authenticity that felt almost uncomfortable at first. You cannot fake the trembling in your hands when you know the person you're playing is hearing a child die.”

Director Kaouther Ben Hania, known for her Academy Award-nominated Four Daughters, has crafted a film that eschews a traditional score in many sequences, relying instead on the raw audio of the original call. This stylistic choice, Kilani says, was deliberate. “Kaouther wanted the audience to feel the bureaucracy of death, the moments where a map is checked, a radio is switched, a delay is explained. It is not an action movie. It is a tragedy about paperwork that couldn't keep pace with bullets.”

Awards Season Looming

With a release date set for September 10, 2025, The Voice of Hind Rajab is arriving earlier than typical awards contenders, a strategic move that allows the film to build momentum through the festival circuit and into the winter voting bodies. The subject matter is raw, the historical context still unfolding, and the TMDb score suggests audiences are responding to its unflinching approach.

Kilani remains grounded about the hype, but acknowledges the significance of the moment. “You go to film school to learn how to tell stories. You never learn what to do when the story tells you it's not finished living,” she said. “Hind's story is not a historical artifact. It is a wound that is still open. If this film contributes to the conversation about civilian protection, about the people who risk everything to answer a phone, then the awards are secondary. But I won't lie - it would be an honor to stand on that stage and say her name to the world.”

The Voice of Hind Rajab is slated for a worldwide theatrical release on September 10, 2025.

Source: Hollywood Reporter