The Venice Film Festival award-winning drama “The Voice of Hind Rajab” has finally secured a release in the United States, solidifying the Gaza-set drama’s awards qualifications for the upcoming season.
WILLA, an executive producer on the Tunisia-made film, will handle the theatrical and digital release of “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” which uses real-life audio to tell the story of the final hours of a young girl’s life in Gaza City.
“The Voice of Hind Rajab” will open on Dec. 17 at New York’s Film Forum and at the Laemmle Theatres chain in Los Angeles before it expands in further cities in the U.S. in the ensuing weeks.
“After weighing numerous opportunities, we chose to keep this release in the family,” the film’s producers, Nadim Cheikhrouha, Odessa Rae and James Wilson, said in a statement. “WILLA brings thoughtfulness and vision to distribution, and together we’re building a release that honors the spirit in which the film was created.”
The film is based on actual events when, in January 2024, Red Crescent volunteers received an emergency call from a six-year-old girl who was trapped in a car in Gaza, pleading for rescue. While trying to keep her on the phone, they race to save her.
“The Voice of Hind Rajab” had an emotional debut at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize. TheWrap’s critic Ben Croll noted that the press screening for the film at the festival was met with “thunderous applause and full-body sobs.”
Executive producers on the film include Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Alfonso Cuarón and Jonathan Glazer. Producers are Jim Wilson, Odessa Rae and Nadim Cheikhrouha.
