How Doha film festival became a platform for Qatar to denounce Israel’s Gaza offensive

The Voice of Hind Rajab is the cry of a devastated nation, captured through the voice of a six-year-old girl. The Arabic film is not just the story of Hind Rami Iyad Rajab, who was killed in Palestine last January—it is the story of thousands who lost their lives to the horrors of war. Born on May 3, 2018, and killed on January 29, 2024, in an Israeli attack, Hind became the voice that conveyed the terror of war to the world. The Doha International Film Festival opened with the screening of The Voice of Hind Rajab, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania.

The festival became a platform for Qatar to strongly denounce Israel’s ongoing offensive in Palestine. The film is based on a phone call received by the Palestine Red Crescent in January last year. Hind Rajab, the six-year-old girl, called the Red Crescent pleading for help after the car she was travelling in with her relatives came under Israeli fire. She tells them that the people with her are covered in blood and are not waking up. The Red Crescent had fully recorded that phone call.

That recording runs throughout the film. The Red Crescent tried to rescue Hind, but with no safe corridor allowed, the effort failed. She was eventually killed by Israeli soldiers. Hind’s mother, Wisam Hamada, also attended the festival. She said, through tears, that she desperately hoped her daughter would somehow return in the climax of the film. In every dream, she said, she still imagines her daughter coming back—even though she knows it will never happen. Accepting that reality has been impossible.

Wisam Hamada has filed a case in the International Court of Justice demanding action against the Israeli soldiers responsible for her daughter’s death. No parent, she said, could bear to hear Hind’s final voice message in full. “It’s getting dark… please take me from here,” the child pleads—words that left the audience shaken. The film is featured in the competition category of the festival.

The 10-day festival was inaugurated by Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of the Doha Film Institute. Actors Jamal Soliman and Golshifteh Farahani were honoured with the Excellence in Talent Award, presented by Sheikha Al Mayassa. “Every voice matters, and the films that represent those voices have a place on this soil,” said Festival Director and CEO Fatma Hassan Al Remaihi. A total of $300,000 in prizes will be awarded in the competition section.