The Voice of Hind Rajab (2025) - Kaouther Ben Hania Film

The Palestinian-Canadian actress Saja Kilani has traveled a long road from her early days at the Toronto Film School to the international awards circuit, and this fall she will be seen on the big screen in the harrowing historical drama The Voice of Hind Rajab. The film, which opens September 10, 2025, has already generated major buzz with a stellar 8.045/10 rating on TMDb, positioning it as one of the most anticipated independent releases of the season.

Directed by acclaimed Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, the 89-minute feature reconstructs one of the most agonizing episodes of the recent Gaza conflict. On January 29, 2024, Red Crescent volunteers received an emergency call from a five-year-old girl named Hind Rajab, who was trapped inside a car under fire in Gaza City. The film follows the desperate attempts to keep the child on the line while dispatching an ambulance to her location, a mission that unfolds with increasing futility as the danger closes in.

Kilani, who plays Rana Hassan Faqih - one of the emergency dispatchers - spoke to USA Film News about the weight of bringing such a recent tragedy to the screen. For the actress, who trained in Toronto before establishing herself in regional theater and film, the role demanded a level of emotional precision she had never before encountered.

“Playing Rana was a lesson in restraint,” Kilani said. “The script gives you so little, and that is exactly what makes it powerful. You have a child’s voice on the other end of the line, and you have to keep your own fear in check to guide her. Every pause, every breath you take, carries the weight of a real life. I knew I had to honor that.”

The film’s casting is notable for its focus on authenticity. Real archival audio of Hind Rajab’s voice is woven into the soundscape, with the young girl credited as herself in the role of “Voice - Archive Footage.” This choice creates a haunting layer of realism, as audiences hear the actual recordings of the child pleading for help, while the actors on screen grapple with the terror of that moment. Hind Rajab’s name is etched into the film’s title not just as a subject, but as an active presence in the narrative.

The story centers on Omar A. Alqam, portrayed by Motaz Malhees, the Red Crescent volunteer who first took the call. His decision to stay on the line with Hind, long after standard protocols would suggest hanging up, becomes the film’s moral core. Amer Hlehel plays Mahdi M. Aljamal, the ambulance driver who volunteers to cross the front line, while Clara Khoury appears as Nisreen Jeries Qawas, a supervisor forced to make impossible choices from the dispatcher’s desk.

What sets The Voice of Hind Rajab apart from other conflict films is its refusal to show the violence directly. Instead, Ben Hania confines nearly the entire story to the claustrophobic interiors of the Red Crescent call center and the radio cabin of the approaching ambulance. The horror is conveyed through audio: the crackle of gunfire, the mechanical hum of the vehicle, the trembling voice of a child asking, “Will you come get me?” It is a directorial gambit that demands total commitment from the cast, and the ensemble delivers.

Kilani described the shooting process as an exercise in controlled panic. “We filmed in long, unbroken takes,” she said. “The director wanted us to feel the duration of the wait. My character can’t leave her post, can’t hang up, can’t scream because the child needs calm. That tension sits in your jaw, in your fingers, for hours. By the end of the day, I was exhausted in a way I have never felt on any other set.”

The film also benefits from a deep bench of supporting talent. Nesbat Serhan plays Leila, a junior dispatcher whose idealism is quickly crushed by the reality of the situation, while Ramy Brahem appears as Mahdi’s Assistant, providing a grounding counterpoint to the grim humor that occasionally surfaces in the script - a necessary release valve in an otherwise relentless narrative.

For Kilani, whose breakout role this is, the Toronto Film School years provided the technical foundation, but the emotional resonance came from her own background. “Growing up in a diaspora community, you hear these stories from afar and feel so helpless,” she explained. “To be asked to play the person who actually held the line - that is a responsibility I will carry forever. I think about Hind every day.”

The film has already sparked conversation at early festival screenings, with audiences reportedly leaving the theater in silence. Critics have praised Ben Hania’s unflinching, minimalistic approach, noting that the decision to center the story on the volunteers rather than the politicians or the generals makes the tragedy feel intimate and unmissable. With its September release date, The Voice of Hind Rajab is expected to be a major player in the upcoming awards season, and for Kilani, the journey from a Toronto classroom to the Oscars conversation feels both surreal and earned.

“You go to film school thinking you might make people laugh or cry,” she said. “You rarely imagine you will be the one carrying a voice that the world should never forget. I hope we do her justice.”

Source: The Hollywood Reporter