Speaks Loudly About the Suffering in Gaza

(021526) The Voice of Hind Rijab is a powerful, critically acclaimed docudrama from Tunisia about a Pakistani girl in peril in Gaza. It uses a large portion of the real 70-minute audio tapes of the girl who frantically kept calling the Palestine Red Crescent Society in the hopes they would save her. The whole film is built around the actual recordings, and we hear many of them in the film. So in a way, the film makes us all witnesses or accomplices to her dire situation, which adds immensely to its staying power.

The fine feature is currently playing at only two theaters in the Chicago area: the Gene Siskel Center in the Loop, the Wilmette Theater, and the Marcus Cinema in Orland Park. This is a rare chance to see a film in Arabic on the South Side, and it is probably playing there because the area has one of the largest Middle Eastern populations and is commonly referred to as Little Palestine. At the screening I saw, there were quite a few viewers, and half of them were wearing Hijabs.

The film has been extremely popular at this year’s various award contests. It won the Grand Prize at the Venice Film Festival, and it had an even more positive response at Cannes, where it received the longest ever standing ovation of over 23 minutes. It was nominated for the Best Non-English Film Award at this year’s Golden Globes and it was nominated at the Oscars for the Best International Film although Sentimental Intentions and The Secret Agent (look for the upcoming review) have a better chance of winning because they are also nominated for other categories.

The Voice of Hind Rijab was directed by the acclaimed Muslim feminist filmmaker, Kaouther Ben Hania, who is the first Tunisian filmmaker to have made an Oscar-nominated film. I have seen many of her features, and they are all unique, different, and so far, she hasn't repeated herself. She made Beauty and the Dogs (2017), which I saw at the European Film Festival. The Kafkaesque drama is about a woman who can’t find anyone to believe or help her after she is raped by police officers. Her second film was the spottier, but still worthy, The Man Who Sold His Skin (2020), about a man who becomes a living artwork when he rents out his skin to an artist. The Voice of Hind Rijab is both her best and most financially successful film to date.

In the film, a young girl is trapped in her uncle’s car near a fire while the Israeli Defense Forces slaughter everyone all around her, including her other family members. She stayed on the phone for hours with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, a humanitarian aid organization that provides assistance in crisis situations. She was begging for aid on her calls, but even attempting a rescue was risky because the IDF was known for the frequently in which it's volunteer helpers are killed. Coordinating a rescue was a massive, complicated ordeal that required assistance from several agencies and individuals.

The main characters are often played well by professional actors. Motez Malheeze plays Omar, the emergency call responder who initially takes her call. It’s heartbreaking when we hear Hind Rijab say: “My family, they’re all dead. It will be dark soon, and I’m scared.”

Eventually, the government employees are able to pinpoint her. But they can’t simply come get her because a wall of bureaucracy blocks them. Then they have to make intricate plans to navigate the war zone while still staying alive. Omar is frustrated that an ambulance or helicopter can’t just swoop in, and he angrily asks his boss, “How can you coordinate with the army that’s killing them?”

The conclusion is very powerful and heartbreaking. This film has much more staying power than the vast majority of recent films, and its emotional impact is hard to shake off. It should not be missed. I hope it is not overlooked because it is stronger than at least half of the films nominated for this year's Best Picture Oscar.