‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ movie review: Kaouther Ben Hania’s damning indictment of spectatorship speaks for itself
This review discusses the film 'The Voice of Hind Rajab', which reconstructs the final hours of a Palestinian girl killed in Gaza. The author criticizes the Indian censorship board's attempt to block the film, framing it as an act of suppressing reality.
Why it matters
The film and the controversy surrounding its censorship highlight the intersection of international conflict, artistic freedom, and political sensitivity.
Perhaps the greatest compliment one can pay The Voice of Hind Rajab is that the CBFC briefly entertained the horrifying possibility that audiences might accidentally learn something from the film. Kaouther Ben Hania’s Venice-winning docudrama reconstructs the final hours of Hind Rajab, the six-year-old Palestinian girl who spent January 29, 2024, trapped inside a car in Gaza City’s Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood after Israeli fire killed six members of her family. For hours, she remained on the phone with Palestine Red Crescent dispatchers, surrounded by the bodies of her relatives, before she and the two paramedics sent to reach her were brutally killed by Israeli fire.
The author uses strong, emotionally charged language ('damning indictment', 'connoisseurs of genocide denial') to criticize the censorship board and support the film's perspective.
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