The film will have its African premiere in Cairo following its recent success at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize, one of the world’s top honours.
In Venice, the film received widespread critical acclaim and a standing ovation lasting over 20 minutes, cementing its status as one of the year’s most important cinematic achievements.
A Tunisian-French co-production, The Voice of Hind Rajab is a powerful drama that blends fiction and documentary, inspired by heartbreaking real events.
It tells the story of Hind Rajab, a six-year-old Palestinian girl trapped in a car under heavy shelling in Gaza after losing her family.
During those harrowing moments, Hind made a desperate call to the Palestinian Red Crescent emergency services, but rescue teams struggled to secure safe passage to reach her.
Using the actual audio recording of that call, the film creates a striking cinematic experience that captures silence, fear, and waiting, transforming the child’s voice into a universal symbol of innocence confronting violence.
"What I wanted was to focus on the invisible: The waiting, the fear, the unbearable sound of silence when help doesn't come. Sometimes, what you don't see is more devastating than what you do. At the heart of it 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," Ben Hania said, explaining her vision for the film in Venice.
CIFF
Cairo International Film Festival is one of the oldest and most prestigious festivals in the Arab world and Africa.
It is the only festival in the Arab and African region registered as Category A by the International Federation of Producers in Paris.
Its 46th edition will run between 12 and 21 November 2025, with Hussein Fahmy as its president and Mohamed Tarek its artistic director.
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