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Brad Pitt, Phoenix & Mara Join as executive producers on Tunisia’s Oscar Entry, THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB, before Venice debut
31 August 2025
Two-time Academy Award nominee Kaouther Ben Hania returns to the global spotlight with the world premiere of her latest feature, THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB, in the Venezia 82 Competition at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival (August 27th-September 6th), where it is nominated for the Golden Lion, the festival’s highest honor.
The film has also been officially selected to represent Tunisia at the upcoming Academy Awards, marking Ben Hania’s third Oscar campaign and further cementing her status as one of the Arab world’s most vital cinematic voices.
Screenings at the Venice International Film Festival will begin on September 3rd, with public showings at 4:30 pm in Sala Grande and 8:00 pm in PalaBiennale. For accredited pass holders, the film will screen earlier that day at 8:30 am in Sala Darsena and at 11:15 am and again at 4:30 pm in Sala Grande. An additional screening will take place on September 4th at 9:00 am in PalaBiennale.
Following its world premiere in Venice, the film will continue its international trajectory with prestigious selections at the 73rd San Sebastián International Film Festival (Perlak section), the 69th BFI London Film Festival (Official Competition), and the 30th Busan International Film Festival (World Cinema section), affirming its resonance across diverse audiences and global platforms.
The film, written and directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, blends actual audio recordings with scripted performances to tell the harrowing true story of Hind Rajab, a six-year-old Palestinian girl trapped in a car under Israeli military fire in Gaza, alongside the paramedics who desperately tried to save her.
Back on January 29th, 2024, Red Crescent volunteers received an emergency call from Hind, who was stranded in a shelled vehicle after her family was killed while fleeing Gaza City. She remained on the phone for hours, pleading for help, until both she and the paramedics were found dead on February 10th following an Israeli withdrawal.
Ben Hania, known for THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS SKIN and FOUR DAUGHTERS, both Oscar-nominated, was moved to create the film after hearing Hind’s voice during a layover at LAX. “I immediately felt a mix of helplessness and overwhelming sadness,” she said. “After listening to the full 70-minute audio, I knew, without a doubt, that I had to drop everything else. I had to make this film.”
Hollywood stars Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Alfonso Cuarón, and Jonathan Glazer joined the film as executive producers after viewing an early cut. Pitt, along with Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner through their company Plan B, also received “In Association With” credits, as did Film4 and MBC Studios.
Other prominent public figures who joined the project as executive producers include journalist and producer Jemima Khan, Canadian businessman and Lionsgate founder Frank Giustra, and jewelry designer and social figure Sabine Getty.
A co-production between Tunisia and France, the film was shot in Tunisia and produced by an international team including Nadim Cheikhrouha (Mime Films, Tanit Films), Oscar-winning Odessa Rae (RaeFilm Studios), and Oscar-nominated James Wilson (JW Films Production).
The cast features Amer Hlehel (PARADISE NOW), Clara Khoury (BODY OF LIES), Motaz Malhees (200 METERS), and Saja Kilani, whose first feature film performance, SIMSIM, earned her the Best First Time Lead Actress Award at the Amman International Film Festival in 2025, with cinematography by Juan Sarmiento G., editing by Qutaiba Barhamji, Maxime Mathis, and Ben Hania herself, and an original score by Amine Bouhafa.
MAD Distribution will handle cultural and theatrical rights in the Arab world,with Sunnyland (A.R.T Group) serving as the digital distributor in MENA, while The Party Film Sales will manage worldwide sales and co-represent North American rights with CAA Media Finance.
Ben Hania is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers from the Arab world, known for her bold storytelling and cinematic innovation. Her 2023 film FOUR DAUGHTERS won the l’Oeil d’Or at Cannes and was nominated for Best Documentary at the 2024 Academy Awards. Her 2020 feature, THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS SKIN, was nominated for Best International Feature and won Best Actor at Venice’s Horizons Section.
Earlier works like BEAUTY AND THE DOGS, ZAINEB HATES THE SNOW, AND CHALLAT OF TUNIS have also earned international acclaim.
With THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB, Ben Hania continues her legacy of urgent, emotionally resonant filmmaking. “Cinema can preserve a memory. Cinema can resist amnesia,” she said. “May Hind Rajab’s voice be heard.
The film has also been officially selected to represent Tunisia at the upcoming Academy Awards, marking Ben Hania’s third Oscar campaign and further cementing her status as one of the Arab world’s most vital cinematic voices.
Screenings at the Venice International Film Festival will begin on September 3rd, with public showings at 4:30 pm in Sala Grande and 8:00 pm in PalaBiennale. For accredited pass holders, the film will screen earlier that day at 8:30 am in Sala Darsena and at 11:15 am and again at 4:30 pm in Sala Grande. An additional screening will take place on September 4th at 9:00 am in PalaBiennale.
Following its world premiere in Venice, the film will continue its international trajectory with prestigious selections at the 73rd San Sebastián International Film Festival (Perlak section), the 69th BFI London Film Festival (Official Competition), and the 30th Busan International Film Festival (World Cinema section), affirming its resonance across diverse audiences and global platforms.
The film, written and directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, blends actual audio recordings with scripted performances to tell the harrowing true story of Hind Rajab, a six-year-old Palestinian girl trapped in a car under Israeli military fire in Gaza, alongside the paramedics who desperately tried to save her.
Back on January 29th, 2024, Red Crescent volunteers received an emergency call from Hind, who was stranded in a shelled vehicle after her family was killed while fleeing Gaza City. She remained on the phone for hours, pleading for help, until both she and the paramedics were found dead on February 10th following an Israeli withdrawal.
Ben Hania, known for THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS SKIN and FOUR DAUGHTERS, both Oscar-nominated, was moved to create the film after hearing Hind’s voice during a layover at LAX. “I immediately felt a mix of helplessness and overwhelming sadness,” she said. “After listening to the full 70-minute audio, I knew, without a doubt, that I had to drop everything else. I had to make this film.”
Hollywood stars Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Alfonso Cuarón, and Jonathan Glazer joined the film as executive producers after viewing an early cut. Pitt, along with Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner through their company Plan B, also received “In Association With” credits, as did Film4 and MBC Studios.
Other prominent public figures who joined the project as executive producers include journalist and producer Jemima Khan, Canadian businessman and Lionsgate founder Frank Giustra, and jewelry designer and social figure Sabine Getty.
A co-production between Tunisia and France, the film was shot in Tunisia and produced by an international team including Nadim Cheikhrouha (Mime Films, Tanit Films), Oscar-winning Odessa Rae (RaeFilm Studios), and Oscar-nominated James Wilson (JW Films Production).
The cast features Amer Hlehel (PARADISE NOW), Clara Khoury (BODY OF LIES), Motaz Malhees (200 METERS), and Saja Kilani, whose first feature film performance, SIMSIM, earned her the Best First Time Lead Actress Award at the Amman International Film Festival in 2025, with cinematography by Juan Sarmiento G., editing by Qutaiba Barhamji, Maxime Mathis, and Ben Hania herself, and an original score by Amine Bouhafa.
MAD Distribution will handle cultural and theatrical rights in the Arab world,with Sunnyland (A.R.T Group) serving as the digital distributor in MENA, while The Party Film Sales will manage worldwide sales and co-represent North American rights with CAA Media Finance.
Ben Hania is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers from the Arab world, known for her bold storytelling and cinematic innovation. Her 2023 film FOUR DAUGHTERS won the l’Oeil d’Or at Cannes and was nominated for Best Documentary at the 2024 Academy Awards. Her 2020 feature, THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS SKIN, was nominated for Best International Feature and won Best Actor at Venice’s Horizons Section.
Earlier works like BEAUTY AND THE DOGS, ZAINEB HATES THE SNOW, AND CHALLAT OF TUNIS have also earned international acclaim.
With THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB, Ben Hania continues her legacy of urgent, emotionally resonant filmmaking. “Cinema can preserve a memory. Cinema can resist amnesia,” she said. “May Hind Rajab’s voice be heard.
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