Brad Pitt and Joaquin Phoenix back harrowing Gaza tragedy film The Voice of Hind Rajab ahead of Venice premiere | Hollywood News

Hollywood A-lers including Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, and directors like Alfonso Cuaron and Jonathan Glazer teamed up to executive produce a new film called “The Voice of Hind Rajab.” Directed Kaouther Ben Hania, the film is scheduled to premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 3, before having a special screening at Toronto for its North American premiere.
The Voice of Hind Rajab
The drama is based on a tragic real event in Gaza. Amid heightened political tensions between Israel and Palestine, the film focuses on the January 2024 incident when six-year-old Hind Rajab, traveling with her four cousins and her aunt and uncle, was attacked Israeli forces as the family tried to flee Gaza City. Hind was shot and died on the spot. The film recreates the incident, based on the voice recordings obtained from the site. It’s a conversation between Hind and the Red Crescent volunteers, who desperately tried to save her, calling an ambulance and doing everything they could, but ultimately failed. The production is backed several high-profile companies, including Plan B, Brad Pitt’s production house, as well as Film4 and MBC Studio.
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Investigations into Hind’s death have been a controversial topic since. Israel claimed it hadn’t deployed any troops in the area, but satellite imagery and independent research showed Israeli tanks were present. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Forensic Architecture found 335 bullet holes in the car, and media outlets like The Washington Post and Sky News confirmed the presence of Israeli tanks in the area, though the country has repeatedly declined to take responsibility. The firing killed Rajab’s uncle, aunt, and her three cousins. Initially, Rajab and one of her cousins survived the bullets and contacted the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) phone and spoke for a few minutes. When the paramedics arrived, they found all of them dead. The incident, when reported, sparked huge protests across the United States, including at Columbia University, where students renamed Hamilton Hall as Hind’s Hall.
Also read: Who is Hind Rajab, the 6-year-old girl behind the unofficial renaming of Hamilton’s Hall?
This is Kaouther Ben Hania’s follow-up to her Oscar-nominated film “Four Daughters.” Hania is famous for directing the acclaimed “The Man Who Sold His Skin,” and is known for mixing documentary and fiction to tell real stories with emotional impact. The context of the film is part of the ongoing conflict in Gaza, which began after Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023. The attack killed over 1200 people with hundreds taken hostage. Israel’s military operations since then have killed at least 61,000 people in Gaza. “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,” Director Ben Hania said of the project during the press conference. 
The Venice Film Festival will also see pro-Palestinian protests  with local and international activs calling for justice. Many filmmakers and arts, including Ken Loach, Toni Servillo, Céline Sciamma, and Palestinian directors Arab and Tarzan Nasser, signed a letter urging the festival to condemn “genocide and ethnic cleansing” in Gaza.