{"id":689990,"date":"2026-01-12T00:41:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T00:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/689990\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T00:41:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T00:41:11","slug":"read-kaouther-ben-hania-screenplay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/689990\/","title":{"rendered":"Read Kaouther Ben Hania Screenplay"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tDeadline\u2019s Read the Screenplay<\/a> series spotlighting the scripts behind the awards season\u2019s most talked-about movies continues with\u00a0The Voice of\u00a0Hind\u00a0Rajab\u00a0from Willa<\/a>, the distribution arm of the film\u2018s production company. Written and directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania<\/a>, the docudrama recounts the tragic death of 6-year-old\u00a0Hind\u00a0Rajab\u00a0in Gaza City.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film made history at the Venice Film Festival, winning the Grand Jury Prize and receiving a record-breaking 23-minute and 50-second standing ovation<\/a> \u2014 the longest of any festival. The film won the Silver Lion Grand Jury World there among several other awards, is nominated for a pair of European Film Awards<\/a> including Best European Film, made the Oscar shortlist<\/a> as Tunisia\u2019s entry into the International Feature Film race, and is up for Best Motion Picture \u2013 Non-English Language Golden Globe<\/a> tonight.<\/p>\n

\n\tRather than depicting the violence on the streets of Gaza directly, Ben Hania chooses a claustrophobic setting: the Palestine Red Crescent Society dispatch center in Ramallah. This artistic decision shifts the focus from the battlefield to the psychological and bureaucratic nightmare faced by those desperately trying to orchestrate a rescue from hundreds of miles away.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe screenplay, written by Ben Hania,\u00a0integrates reality with scripted drama. Its most profound feature is the use of the actual 70-minute audio recording of\u00a0Hind\u2019s phone calls to the dispatchers. Instead of having a child actor re-create these moments, the script is built around the real voice of\u00a0Hind, making her a haunting, invisible presence throughout the film. The actors \u2014 including Saja Kilani and Motaz Malhees \u2014 perform alongside these archival recordings, responding to the child\u2019s pleas in real time. The technique blurs the boundary between documentary and fiction, forcing the audience into the same position as the dispatchers: listening to a tragedy they are powerless to stop.<\/p>\n

\n\tBen Hania\u2019s script was developed through extensive interviews with the actual PRCS volunteers who handled the calls on January 29, 2024. The dialogue is rooted in these testimonies, capturing the authentic prayers, words of comfort, and frantic internal debates that occurred as the staff navigated the complex military and bureaucratic hurdles required to dispatch an ambulance. By focusing on the \u201cinvisible\u201d elements of the tragedy \u2014 the waiting, the silence, and the agonizing pursuit of military clearance \u2014 the film avoids being a traditional war movie. Instead, it becomes a ticking-clock thriller that examines the systems of humanitarian aid and the profound failure of the international community to protect a single child.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe narrative structure follows the chronological progression of that day, beginning with the initial emergency call from\u00a0Hind\u2019s cousin and ending with the loss of contact with both the child and the paramedics sent to save her. Executive produced by a list of Hollywood heavyweights including Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara and Jonathan Glazer, the film has been hailed as a humanist marvel for its refusal to exploit the violence it documents. By centering the story on the voices of those involved rather than the images of their destruction,\u00a0The Voice of\u00a0Hind\u00a0Rajab\u00a0serves as both a cinematic memorial and a searing demand for accountability.<\/p>\n

\n\tRead the screenplay below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Deadline\u2019s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting the scripts behind the awards season\u2019s most talked-about movies continues with\u00a0The Voice…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":689991,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3935],"tags":[77,136546,3943,208430,136547,16,15,208431],"class_list":{"0":"post-689990","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-kaouther-ben-hania","10":"tag-movies","11":"tag-read-the-screenplay","12":"tag-the-voice-of-hind-rajab","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-willa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115879351675230731","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=689990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/689991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=689990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=689990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=689990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}