Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Voice of Hind Rajab nominated for Golden Globe award

The docudrama revisits the final hours of five-year-old Hind Rajab before her death by Israeli fire

The Voice of Hind Rajab made its debut at the Venice Film Festival. Photo: Mime Films & Tanit Films

Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Voice of Hind Rajab has been nominated for Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language at the Golden Globes, adding fresh momentum to one of the most talked-about titles of this awards season.

The docudrama revisits the final hours of Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza in January 2024 after becoming trapped with her relatives in a car under Israeli fire.

Using actors alongside real audio recordings of Hind’s phone call to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, the film unfolds almost entirely inside an emergency dispatch centre, following medics as they try – and fail – to reach her.

The film is nominated alongside It Was Just An Accident (Iran and France), No Other Choice (South Korea), The Secret Agent (Brazil, France, Germany and the Netherlands), Sentimental Value (Norway, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and the UK) and Sirat (Spain and France) in its category.

The film uses actors alongside real audio recordings of Hind’s phone call for help. Photo: Mime Films & Tanit Films

Premiering in competition at the Venice Film Festival in September, The Voice of Hind Rajab received a lengthy standing ovation and won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize, the festival’s second-highest honour, along with several parallel awards.

When Ben Hania first discovered the audio, she was horrified. "It was one of the most difficult things I’ve heard in my life," she told The National at the festival.

Though she had been working on another project, she put it aside, realising the urgency of telling Hind’s story. The film was shot over three weeks in Tunisia last November, but only after she first approached Rajab’s mother to seek permission to use the audio.

“Hind’s mother told me something about the voice of her daughter: it should be heard, and not be forgotten,” she said.

“The voice of this little girl can make people uncomfortable. I can totally understand it, and that’s why I’m doing this movie. I’m not doing this movie to make people comfortable because Gazans are not having a comfortable life," she added.

“Hind’s mother … she’s mourning and she doesn’t have a comfortable life. So if people are thinking, ‘Ah, it’s not moral to do this’ … for me, I have the blessing of the mother. It’s important that Hind’s voice stays.”

The film is also Tunisia’s official submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.

Backed by producers and executive producers including Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara and Alfonso Cuaron, Ben Hania continues her exploration of hybrid documentary and fiction, following Four Daughters, which was nominated at the Oscars for Best Documentary in 2024.

Full list of Golden Globes 2025 nominees:

Best Motion Picture – Drama

Frankenstein

Hamnet

It Was Just an Accident

The Secret Agent

Sentimental ValueSinners

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Blue Moon

Bugonia

Marty Supreme

No Other Choice

Nouvelle Vague

One Battle After Another

Best Motion Picture – Animated

Arco

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle

Elio

Kpop Demon Hunters

Little Amelie or the Character of Rain

Zootopia 2

Cinematic and Box Office Achievement

Avatar: Fire and Ash

F1

Kpop Demon Hunters

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

SinnersWeapons

Wicked: For Good

Zootopia 2

Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language

It Was Just an Accident – France

No Other Choice – South Korea

The Secret Agent – Brazil

Sentimental Value – Norway

Sirat – Spain

The Voice of Hind Rajab – Tunisia

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Jessie Buckley – Hamnet

Jennifer Lawrence – Die My Love

Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value

Julia Roberts – After the Hunt

Tessa Thompson – Hedda

Eva Victor – Sorry, Baby

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Joel Edgerton – Train Dreams

Oscar Isaac – Frankenstein

Dwayne Johnson – The Smashing Machine

Michael B Jordan – Sinners

Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent

Jeremy Allen White – Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Cynthia Erivo – Wicked: For Good

Kate Hudson – Song Sung Blue

Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another

Amanda Seyfried – The Testament of Ann Lee

Emma Stone – Bugonia

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Timothee Chalamet – Marty Supreme

George Clooney – Jay Kelly

Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another

Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon

Lee Byung-hun – No Other Choice

Jesse Plemons – Bugonia

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture

Emily Blunt – The Smashing Machine

Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value

Ariana Grande – Wicked: For Good

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value

Amy Madigan – Weapons

Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture

Benicio Del Toro – One Battle After Another

Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein

Paul Mescal – Hamnet

Sean Penn – One Battle After Another

Adam Sandler – Jay Kelly

Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value

Best Director – Motion Picture

Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another

Ryan Coogler – Sinners

Guillermo del Toro – Frankenstein

Jafar Panahi – It Was Just an Accident

Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value

Chloé Zhao – Hamnet

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture

Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another

Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme

Ryan Coogler – Sinners

Jafar Panahi – It Was Just an Accident

Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value

Chloé Zhao, Maggie O’Farrell – Hamnet

Best Original Score – Motion Picture

Alexandre Desplat – Frankenstein

Ludwig Göransson – Sinners

Jonny Greenwood – One Battle After Another

Kangding Ray – Sirāt

Max Richter – HamnetHans Zimmer – F1

Best Original Song – Motion Picture

“Dream as One” – Avatar: Fire and Ash

Music and lyrics by Miley Cyrus, Andrew Wyatt, Mark Ronson, Simon Franglen

“Golden” – Kpop Demon Hunters

Music by Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo, Park Hong JunLyrics by Kim Eun-jae (EJAE), Mark Sonnenblick

“I Lied to You” – Sinners

Music and lyrics by Raphael Saadiq, Ludwig Göransson

“No Place Like Home” – Wicked: For Good

Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz

“The Girl in the Bubble” – Wicked: For Good

Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz

“Train Dreams” – Train Dreams

Music by Nick Cave, Bryce Dessner

Lyrics by Nick Cave

Best Television Series – Drama

The Diplomat

The Pitt

Pluribus

Severance

Slow Horses

The White Lotus

Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy

Abbott Elementary

The Bear

Hacks

Nobody Wants This

Only Murders in the Building

The Studio

Best Television Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Adolescence

All Her Fault

The Beast in Me

Black Mirror

Dying for Sex

The Girlfriend

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Series – Drama

Kathy Bates – Matlock

Britt Lower – Severance

Helen Mirren – Mobland

Bella Ramsey – The Last of Us

Keri Russell – The Diplomat

Rhea Seehorn – Pluribus

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Series – Drama

Sterling K. Brown – Paradise

Diego Luna – Andor

Gary Oldman – Slow Horses

Mark Ruffalo – Task

Adam Scott – Severance

Noah Wyle – The Pitt

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy

Kristen Bell – Nobody Wants This

Ayo Edebiri – The Bear

Selena Gomez – Only Murders in the Building

Natasha Lyonne – Poker Face

Jenna Ortega – Wednesday

Jean Smart – Hacks

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy

Adam Brody – Nobody Wants This

Steve Martin – Only Murders in the Building

Glen Powell – Chad PowersSeth Rogen – The Studio

Martin Short – Only Murders in the Building

Jeremy Allen White – The Bear

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Claire Danes – The Beast in Me

Rashida Jones – Black Mirror

Amanda Seyfried – Long Bright River

Sarah Snook – All Her Fault

Michelle Williams – Dying for Sex

Robin Wright – The Girlfriend

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Jacob Elordi – The Narrow Road to the Deep North

Paul Giamatti – Black Mirror

Stephen Graham – Adolescence

Charlie Hunnam – Monster: The Ed Gein Story

Jude Law – Black Rabbit

Matthew Rhys – The Beast in Me

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role on Television

Carrie Coon – The White Lotus

Erin Doherty – Adolescence

Hannah Einbinder – Hacks

Catherine O’Hara – The Studio

Parker Posey – The White Lotus

Aimee Lou Wood – The White Lotus

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role on Television

Owen Cooper – Adolescence

Billy Crudup – The Morning Show

Walton Goggins – The White Lotus

Jason Isaacs – The White Lotus

Tramell Tillman – Severance

Ashley Walters – Adolescence

Best Performance in Stand-up Comedy on Television

Bill Maher – Bill Maher: Is Anyone Else Seeing This?

Brett Goldstein – Brett Goldstein: The Second Best Night of Your Life

Kevin Hart – Kevin Hart: Acting My Age

Kumail Nanjiani – Kumail Nanjiani: Night Thoughts

Ricky Gervais – Ricky Gervais: Mortality

Sarah Silverman – Sarah Silverman: Postmortem

Best Podcast

Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Call Her Daddy

Good Hang with Amy Poehler

The Mel Robbins Podcast

Smartless

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