Gaza-set 'The Voice of Hind Rajab' nominated for Best International Feature at Oscars

Tunisian-French docudrama The Voice of Hind Rajab has been officially nominated for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards, marking a major milestone for Arab and Palestinian cinema and Palestine advocacy.

The nomination was announced on Thursday by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, with the Gaza-set film selected among five titles competing in the category. The awards ceremony is scheduled to take place in Los Angeles in March.

Directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, the film reconstructs the final hours of Hind Rajab, a six-year-old Palestinian girl killed by the Israeli army in Gaza in January 2024.

The docudrama is built around real audio recordings of Hind's phone calls to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, as emergency dispatchers tried unsuccessfully to reach her while Israeli gunfire continued in the area.

Hind was the sole survivor of an Israeli attack on her family’s car as they attempted to flee Gaza City. She remained on the phone for hours pleading to be rescued before contact was lost. Hind, two paramedics sent to save her and six members of her family were all killed by Israeli forces.

The Oscar nomination makes Ben Hania the first Arab woman to receive three Academy Award nominations. She was previously nominated for The Man Who Sold His Skin in 2021 and for Four Daughters in 2024.

The film has already received significant international recognition, winning the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, where it received a prolonged standing ovation, and was later nominated for Best Non-English Language Film at the Golden Globe Awards.

Accepting the Silver Lion award, Ben Hania said: "The voice of Hind is the voice of Gaza itself. A cry for rescue the entire world could hear, yet no one answered. Her voice will continue to echo until accountability is real and justice is served."

The nomination comes at a turning point year for Arab cinema, with four Arab films shortlisted for Best International Feature Film ahead of the final nominations, the highest-ever number at this stage.

Three of those films had focused on Palestine, reflecting growing international attention to Palestinian storytelling after years of marginalisation.

Alongside The Voice of Hind Rajab, the shortlist included Palestine 36 by Annemarie Jacir and All That's Left of You by Cherien Dabis, both of which explore different periods of Palestinian history and displacement. The fourth Arab film shortlisted was The President’s Cake by Iraqi director Hasan Hadi.

Although only Ben Hania's film progressed to the final five nominations, filmmakers and industry figures have described the shortlisting itself as a breakthrough moment.

Dabis said the recognition showed that "the Academy has spoken", adding that support for Palestinian voices was "a long time coming".

The killing of Hind Rajab sparked international outrage and cultural responses, including a protest song titled Hind's Hall by Macklemore. The Hind Rajab Foundation was later established in her name.

This year's Best International Feature Film nominees also include The Secret Agent, It Was Just an Accident, Sentimental Value and Sirât. Ben Hania is the sole Arab filmmaker nominated in the category.