Hollywood stars back film on the tragedy of Gaza’s Hind Rajab

Several Hollywood actors have joined the production of the film The Voice of Hind Rajab, which tells the story of the five-year-old girl killed along with her family by the Israeli army in Gaza in January 2024. The film will premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

The US news site Deadline reported that Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, “Roma” filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón, and “The Zone of Interest” director Jonathan Glazer are among those taking part in the production of the film, directed by Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, who has previously been nominated for an Oscar.

The film recounts the final hours of Hind’s life, when she and six relatives were killed on 29 January 2024 after Israeli forces struck the car, they had sought refuge in, southwest of Gaza City.

The film is scheduled to be screened on 3 September in Venice, as part of the 82nd edition of the Venice Film Festival, which opened on Wednesday and runs until 6 September.

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Production companies include Plan B, owned by Brad Pitt, alongside international and regional companies such as the UK’s Film4 and Saudi Arabia’s MBC Studios, according to Deadline on Wednesday.

The report noted that Pitt, Phoenix, Mara, Cuarón and Glazer are listed as executive producers of the project.

Other prominent figures involved as executive producers include journalist-turned-producer Jemima Khan, Canadian businessman and former Lionsgate co-founder Frank Giustra, and jewellery designer Sabine Getty.

The film also features the real audio recording of Hind Rajab in her final moments before her death. According to Deadline, it will later be shown at the Toronto, San Sebastián, Busan and London film festivals this autumn.

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