Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting the scripts behind the awards season’s most talked-about movies continues with The Voice of Hind Rajab from Willa, the distribution arm of the film‘s production company. Written and directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, the docudrama recounts the tragic death of 6-year-old Hind Rajab in Gaza City.
The film made history at the Venice Film Festival, winning the Grand Jury Prize and receiving a record-breaking 23-minute and 50-second standing ovation — the longest of any festival. The film won the Silver Lion Grand Jury World there among several other awards, is nominated for a pair of European Film Awards including Best European Film, made the Oscar shortlist as Tunisia’s entry into the International Feature Film race, and is up for Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language Golden Globe tonight.
Rather than depicting the violence on the streets of Gaza directly, Ben Hania chooses a claustrophobic setting: the Palestine Red Crescent Society dispatch center in Ramallah. This artistic decision shifts the focus from the battlefield to the psychological and bureaucratic nightmare faced by those desperately trying to orchestrate a rescue from hundreds of miles away.
The screenplay, written by Ben Hania, integrates reality with scripted drama. Its most profound feature is the use of the actual 70-minute audio recording of Hind’s phone calls to the dispatchers. Instead of having a child actor re-create these moments, the script is built around the real voice of Hind, making her a haunting, invisible presence throughout the film. The actors — including Saja Kilani and Motaz Malhees — perform alongside these archival recordings, responding to the child’s pleas in real time. The technique blurs the boundary between documentary and fiction, forcing the audience into the same position as the dispatchers: listening to a tragedy they are powerless to stop.
Ben Hania’s script was developed through extensive interviews with the actual PRCS volunteers who handled the calls on January 29, 2024. The dialogue is rooted in these testimonies, capturing the authentic prayers, words of comfort, and frantic internal debates that occurred as the staff navigated the complex military and bureaucratic hurdles required to dispatch an ambulance. By focusing on the “invisible” elements of the tragedy — the waiting, the silence, and the agonizing pursuit of military clearance — the film avoids being a traditional war movie. Instead, it becomes a ticking-clock thriller that examines the systems of humanitarian aid and the profound failure of the international community to protect a single child.
The narrative structure follows the chronological progression of that day, beginning with the initial emergency call from Hind’s cousin and ending with the loss of contact with both the child and the paramedics sent to save her. Executive produced by a list of Hollywood heavyweights including Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara and Jonathan Glazer, the film has been hailed as a humanist marvel for its refusal to exploit the violence it documents. By centering the story on the voices of those involved rather than the images of their destruction, The Voice of Hind Rajab serves as both a cinematic memorial and a searing demand for accountability.
Read the screenplay below.
