The voice of a five-year-old Palestinian girl trapped in a car under Israeli fire became one of the defining sounds of the genocide in Gaza.
More than a year later, that voice is arriving on South African cinema screens through one of the most internationally recognised films of the past awards season.
The Voice of Hind Rajab, the Oscar-nominated film reconstructing the final hours of five-year-old Hind Rajab, will screen in South Africa from this weekend following a global festival run that transformed the production into one of the most politically resonant films of the year.
Directed by Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, the film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in September last year, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and reportedly received a 23-minute standing ovation.
From Venice, the film moved rapidly through the international awards circuit, earning nominations at the Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards and BAFTAs.
Its arrival in South Africa marks the latest stage in what has become an unusually politicised global journey for a documentary-drama built around one child’s final calls for help.
The production reconstructs the emergency calls made on 29 January 2024 after Hind became trapped inside a vehicle surrounded by the bodies of her relatives while Israeli forces advanced in Gaza City.
The recordings, captured by the Palestinian Red Crescent, circulated globally during the
early months of the war and became one of the conflict’s defining civilian testimonies.
But the film’s international impact has reflected more than the tragedy itself. It has become part of a wider cultural and political reckoning around Gaza, emerging during a period in which artists, filmmakers and major cultural institutions have faced growing pressure over how they respond to the war and the scale of civilian devastation.
Its executive producers include Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Alfonso Cuarón and Jonathan Glazer, underscoring the extent to which Gaza has moved into the centre of global cultural discourse rather than remaining confined to diplomatic or humanitarian debate.
The South African screenings are being organised by Social Intifada and arrive in a country where public solidarity with Palestinians has remained visible across civic, religious and political life.
South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice has also placed the country at the centre of international legal efforts surrounding the war, giving the screenings a significance that extends beyond film culture alone.
In that context, the move from Venice to Johannesburg is not merely geographical. It reflects how the story of Hind Rajab has travelled across political, legal and cultural spaces internationally, carried through activism, media and now cinema.
Selected South African screenings will include panel discussions focused on the humanitarian impact of the war and the broader questions raised by the film.
“Hind’s voice is not something we hear and move on from. It is something we carry. Within us. For the rest of our lives,” said Khalid Vawda of Social Intifada.
The national screening tour begins in Johannesburg on 16 and 17 May before moving to Durban and Cape Town later this month. Tickets are available through Quicket.
Screening dates are:
Johannesburg — 16 and 17 May
Durban — 20 May
Cape Town — 23 and 24 May
The internationally recognised film reconstructs the final hours of Palestinian child Hind Rajab in Gaza, will screen in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town this May