Kaouther Ben Hania, the director of ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’

0:28Hello and welcome to the Monaco Weekly. The film centers in the story of a six-year-old girl trapped in a car under fire in Gaza. Her name was Hind Rajab. Let's hear it from Kauter.

0:54Kauter Benhania, welcome to Monaco Radio. It's a pleasure to have you here. Thank you for inviting me. And your film, The Voice of Hind Rajab, it's a powerful film. It connected with audiences very much. My first question to you, of course, you found out about the story, I guess, when we did about 2024. At what moment in your life were you when you found out about the story? And did you quickly connected and said, I have to do something about this? I said I had to do something. But what is this something? I don't know. I was in this period of my life doing the Oscar campaign of my previous movie.

1:34It was nominated, actually, Four Daughters for an Oscar. But I was in the middle of this red carpet thing. And at the same time, I was glued to the news following what was happening in Gaza and thinking, all this is trivial, you know. What does it mean to be an artist or to be a filmmaker when the unthinkable is happening, you know, when reality is sometimes beyond imagination. And I was preparing another movie, actually, about to enter the pre-production that they've been writing for several years. And then I heard the voice of Hindra Jab. It was in social media. It was small extract. And she was begging for her life.

2:15And it's not like a normal thing to hear a child begging for life, you know. So when you hear it, you can't unhear it. You can't go with your daily stuff. And it impacted me in a very, very cheap way. I was sad. I was angry. I wanted to shout. And I needed to do something, as I said. What is this thing, you know? What can I do? I can maybe do a movie. But it wasn't obvious in the beginning because it's a real story about a real child. So I needed to reach out to the family, to reach out to her mother, to see if she's like open to this idea. And I thought that I don't need only her approval, but I need also her blessing, you know.

3:01And her mother is just such a courageous, wonderful woman. She told me, listen, I want justice for my daughter. And if this movie can help in a way, because there is no accountability, you know, for the Israeli army. if this movie can make some pressure, can bring some justice to my daughter, please do it. So it started like this when she told me, please do it. Then I started the real work, you know, which is, you know, you have this strong emotion in the beginning. You want this emotion to be shared with the audience. But in between, you have all the rational decision, making decision, you know, filmmaking of creative choice, of technical choices.

3:42so you can convey or share with the audience what you felt as an artist. And the film is quite unusual. I don't think it's a very straightforward film, you know, because you do use her voice in the film. I think that was probably your way to honour the young girl as well. I never seen something like this. That's a first, you know. So were you confident about that that would work and that would be the best way to honour the story? No, you are never confident when you are a filmmaker making a movie. You are eaten by doubt. But since it's not my first movie and since I explored this kind of movie before, you know, Four Daughters was like this.

4:24I did several movies like this. I did documentary. I did fiction. So I knew, you know, at least the set of tools that cinema can give me to tell an impactful story. I needed to tell an impactful story, but I needed also to be respectful because it's a sensitive thing to tell the story of the murder of a child, you know, finally, which is it's war crime and it's a shame. And all those elements made it very, very tough. But for me, not doing it wasn't an option. So for the hybrid side, for example, since I made the choice to tell the story far from the car, since we have the voice, you know, I made the choice to stay with my camera, with those who listened, those who did everything in their power to save this girl.

5:17And for me, it was the right place to be. But to make it in a pure documentary form, it wasn't possible because not all of the first responders wanted to be filmed. And so I told myself, maybe the best way is to have another distance, you know, which is to bring actor and to go back. This will give me the possibility not to tell something about, you know, a story that happened in the past, but to do a movie in the present tense, like with the immediacy I felt when I heard her voice. So the actor gave me this, you know, impactful and also distance, you know, respectful distance. So I found the equation interesting, but also I was aware that when you bring actor on the table, maybe for the audience it would be synonym of something fiction, you know.

6:07So that's why in the movie I wanted the contract with the audience to be very clear. Those are actors, they are portraying real people, and even those actors sometimes stop acting in the middle of the movie and they start listening to the voice of the real person, you know, till this moment when the unthinkable happened, which is the bombing of the ambulance, where the actor disappeared and we see the real person on screen. Hello?

6:51I see the film very much giving a voice to Palestinians. You know, I say in a mainstream context because you are a very respected director and it's connecting. The film is doing well where it is released because I know there's some difficulties in some countries. Was that what you wanted, perhaps? because in the media, sometimes perhaps they don't actually have that space, you know? Yeah, I think that at least this is how I see the cinema I want to do. It should give voice to the voiceless. I mean, Rajab wasn't voiceless. She had the voice, but nobody wanted to hear it, you know, especially as you said, in the mainstream media, the Palestinians don't have the right to have pain or personal story or even faces, you know.

7:32I heard in some mainstream media the killing of civilians qualified as collateral damage, you know, which is a total deshumanization for Palestinians. But cinema can do something wonderful. And that's why I love cinema. It can, you know, build up empathy, you know, because you can feel what those first responders from the Red Crescent are facing. What is their life, you know? You understand them and you feel for them. So suddenly the other, the Palestinian that is forbidden to have a face and to have a voice, you connect with him. And this is, you know, something very, very precious because it's a human connection.

8:15Do you think, was there a risk, do you think, making this film? Because as I said, the film connected, but I wonder if the studios want to pick up a topic because we see a lot of films about wars that have happened decades ago. this is now right? So it's a very different making a film about the now than kind of with a historical context right? Yeah I remember when I started like talking and looking for money to do this movie some told me oh it's too early, it's too risky, don't tell it now, you should wait like 10 years like the movie you are mentioning you know and then tell it, it will be history and they was like wondering waiting for what?

8:58Like you think that there will be a trial, for example, there will be accountability. We know that we don't live in this world, you know. So I needed to do this movie in the present tense now, right now, while the genocide is happening, because I thought that maybe this movie can be a tool, can be a way to be used to spread, to bear witness, but also to do something, to have some accountability because we want peace but you can't have peace when you don't have accountability or justice. And when you don't, you know, and sometimes I have to say I think some people, they might not know all the details, they become desensitised with the news stories and I think, and that's where I think your value as a director it is because watching this film is a completely different experience, if you know what I mean, than watching a news bulletin very quickly on the BBC or any other channel.

9:55Yeah, you know, people, when they watch it, they often tell me the movie changed me, you know. But you have some people who tell me, like, I'm afraid to watch it. It can be very hard, you know. And the movie is not hard. You know, you don't see one drop of blood in the movie. It's not a graphic. It's about people in an office listening, you know, and talking with this little girl. It's not that hard. And I think we can't look away, like say, ah, I don't want to watch it. We can't afford to look away. We need to bear witness, you know. And if it's hard, there are several ways to change things, you know.

10:38Everyone from his perspective, what he's doing, you can always do something about it. Cinema should be uncomfortable sometimes, don't you think? Yeah, because we think often about cinema as like entertainment, and it can be, but also cinema can be confrontational. Cinema should tell, you know, the difficult things. Cinema can be all those things and can bring us together. I often tell people, go in group, you know, watch it so you can be supportive one to each other, you know, and you can talk about it after. I think it's the best way I experienced it when we did several screenings, and thanks God it's always sold out, like people come to the movie, when they are a group of persons, it makes them feel more, how to say, connected after the movie to speak about it and to have a debate around it.

11:39They are shooting at a car with a little girl inside. Can you imagine that? So do something.

11:49Thank you, Couter. And the voice of Hindra Job is out in cinemas now. The show was edited by Mariella Bevan. And I am Fernando Augusto Pacheco. Thank you for listening.