Podcast Episode Summary

Podcast: All Of It

Host: Alison Stewart (WNYC)
Episode: 'The Voice of Hind Rajab' Tells a Heartbreaking True Story in a Unique Way
Guest: Kauther Ben Hania (Director, "The Voice of Hind Rajab")
Date: January 12, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode of "All Of It" centers on the film “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” directed by Kauther Ben Hania. The documentary-fiction hybrid tells the true, widely heard story of Hind Rajab, a six-year-old girl trapped in a car in Gaza in 2024, whose pleas for rescue over the phone with Red Crescent workers captivated the world. The film uniquely blends actors’ dramatization with the actual audio recordings of Hind, aiming to evoke both empathy and witness to a tragedy during the Gaza war.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Genesis of the Film

• First Encounter with Hind’s Voice (03:04)

  • Kauther Ben Hania was in Los Angeles for her previous film when she first heard Hind's voice on social media, describing it as haunting and unforgettable.
  • She was so affected that she halted a previous project to focus on telling this story, feeling compelled to use her skills as a filmmaker to bear witness and push against helplessness.
  • Quote: “I couldn't do or think about any other thing than this little girl pleading for her life... I couldn't save her, but I can do movies.” – Kauther Ben Hania (03:29)

• Gaining Family Support (04:36)

  • Ben Hania reached out to Hind’s mother in Gaza, who insisted on the importance of justice and accountability, and wanted her daughter’s story to represent all the children enduring similar fates.
  • Quote: “‘My daughter is not the only child in Gaza. Every day there is Hind Rajabs ... I want justice for my daughter. So if this movie can help...please do it.’” – Kauther Ben Hania, quoting Hind’s mother (05:23)
  • The film made possible a moving real-life meeting between the actors, the real Red Crescent workers, and Hind’s mother at a festival.

Filmmaking Choices: Blending Fact and Fiction

• Why Hybrid Storytelling? (07:14)

  • The story was thoroughly investigated and documented, but Ben Hania saw film’s power as creating empathy rather than recounting facts.
  • She wanted viewers to inhabit the moral dilemmas of the Red Crescent employees, trapped between urgent need and life-threatening risk imposed by military coordination.
  • Quote: “Let’s not stop explaining and let’s live the life of those Red Crescent employees... Cinema can bring empathy, can bring emotion.” – Kauther Ben Hania (07:31)

• Using Real Audio Amid Dramatization (15:40)

  • At key moments, only Hind’s voice and undulating radio waves appear, to amplify her presence and the emotional weight without unnecessary distraction.
  • Quote: “I needed the audience by moment to...listen...because her voice, we can feel the fear, we can feel the strength also.” (16:26)

• Archival Footage and “Breaking the Fiction” (10:11)

  • The film shifts between dramatized scenes and sudden insertions of real Red Crescent workers in momentous archival footage—reminding viewers it's not just a story but a true, ongoing trauma.
  • Quote: “I have to tell the audience this is real…and let’s go to archival documentary mode after.” – Kauther Ben Hania (10:53)

Ethical and Artistic Decisions

• Setting the Action in One Room (11:45)

  • Action remains within the Red Crescent center in Tunisia, both to maintain respectful distance from reenacting the violence faced by Hind and to parallel the world’s “hands-tied” feeling witnessing such events.
  • Quote: “I wanted to shoot this movie with a respectful distance. Which is from the point of view of those who listen...” (11:54)

• Connecting Actors and Real Red Crescent Workers (13:29)

  • Actors playing living counterparts felt a weighty responsibility and sought accuracy and emotional truth through direct communication with their real-life inspirations.
  • Quote: “They were aware that they are vessels for the real person...” (13:56)

• On Close-Ups and First-Hearing (21:54)

  • The film uses intimate close-ups to capture genuine, unrehearsed reactions of actors hearing Hind’s audio for the first time, aiming for rawness over performance.
  • Quote: “…their reaction are not like acting or performance...to capture their raw emotion.” (22:27)

Exploring Relationships and Moral Dilemmas

• Rana and Hind (17:21)

  • The real-life dispatcher Rana forged a surrogate mother-daughter bond with Hind during the ordeal, promising to visit her grave one day with Hind’s mother.
  • Quote: “‘She [Rana] became like a posture mother for Hind. And they made this promise...that one day they will go together to the grave of Hind to make a prayer.’” (17:41)

• Tension Between Omar and Mahdi (18:53)

  • The film depicts tension between two Red Crescent workers: Omar, who wants to act immediately, and Mahdi, who is cautious after many colleagues’ deaths and insists on waiting for Israeli approval—subtly exploring how occupation imposes impossible, divisive dilemmas.
  • Quote: “The tragedy...we follow Mahdi’s strategy...But the Israeli army bombarded his colleagues. So we are in something beyond cruelty and beyond the unthinkable.” (20:13)
  • Notable Revelation: The real Mahdi quit after his colleagues’ deaths, mirroring his character’s declaration in the film.

The Impact and Reception

• Why the Story Resonated (23:30)

  • The element of recorded voice made Hind’s tragedy uniquely public and visceral, contrasting the many unrecorded, unheeded losses of the war.
  • Quote: “Imagine you see the pain of the story of Hind. Imagine all the voices of children who were killed without being recorded or captured… Multiply this... It’s something beyond the capacity of a human heart to contain.” (23:49)

• Audience Reaction and Appeal (24:21, 25:33, 24:16)

  • Some viewers hesitate, fearing emotional overwhelm, but Ben Hania urges viewers to bear witness as an act of privileged responsibility. She’s most moved by those who say, “This movie changed me.”
  • Quote: “If it’s really too hard, do something about it… It’s better than hiding.” (24:29)
  • Listener Text: “Thank you for making this film that will hopefully ignite righteous outrage and action in viewers toward a just world.” (25:33)

Memorable Quotes

• “I couldn't save her, but I can do movies.” – Kauther Ben Hania (03:29)
• “Cinema can bring empathy, can bring emotion.” – Kauther Ben Hania (07:31)
• “There is not a drop of blood in the movie. There is no graphic images… But when we understand what is happening to them … I wanted also to pay homage to their struggle.” – Kauther Ben Hania (12:11)
• “She became like a posture mother for Hind.“ – Kauther Ben Hania (17:41)
• “If there is a new photo added in this to this wall, I resign. And this is what he did actually after.” – Kauther Ben Hania (21:09)
• “We talk about 20,000 killed children…multiply the pain we felt for Hind with this number. It’s something beyond… the capacity of a human heart.” (23:57)
• “You have to bear witness. It’s not your life. Thanks God, you are privileged. You have to bear witness.” (24:29)
• “This movie changed me.” (25:22)

Notable Timestamps

• 03:04 – Origin of Ben Hania’s interest and sense of helplessness
• 04:54 – Permission from Hind’s mother and her hopes for the film
• 07:14 – Why use a documentary-fiction hybrid
• 11:45 – Ethical reasons for setting the film in one location
• 13:29 – Actors’ preparation and connection to real-life counterparts
• 15:40 – Use of real audio and visualizing Hind’s voice
• 17:21 – The relationship between dispatcher Rana and Hind
• 18:53 – Omar vs. Mahdi: illustrating internal conflict under oppression
• 21:54 – On the film’s close-up technique and raw emotion
• 23:30 – Why Hind’s story captured global attention
• 24:21 – Audience responses and filmmaker reflections

In Summary:
This episode offers a sensitive, in-depth look at the responsibility of storytelling in bearing witness to atrocity. "The Voice of Hind Rajab" stands out for its ethical cinematography, deep empathy, and insistence on remembering the victims of war not as numbers but as voices and lives—urging audiences not toward hopelessness, but to witness and action.