Kaouther Ben Hania and Oscar-winning producers on board to direct film on killing of Palestinian girl
LONDON: Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania will direct a new feature dramatizing the death of Hind Rajab, the five-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza earlier this year, a Variety report said on Wednesday.
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The project, which is currently untitled, is set to be shot in Tunisia and produced by Nadim Cheikhrouha ('Four Daughters'), alongside Oscar-winning producers Odessa Rae ('Navalny') and James Wilson ('The Zone of Interest'), with backing from Film4.
Hind Rajab's death became a global symbol of the humanitarian toll of Israel's military campaign in Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks.
She was one of thousands of children killed in the conflict, but her story sparked particular international outrage. In one notable protest, student demonstrators at Columbia University renamed occupied buildings in her honor.
Rajab was fleeing Gaza City with members of her family on Jan. 29, 2024, when their car came under Israeli fire, killing her uncle, aunt and three cousins.
Hind was left trapped in the vehicle for hours, speaking with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society by phone as paramedics attempted to reach her.
On Feb. 10, after Israeli forces withdrew from the area, rescuers found the bodies of Hind, the paramedics and the family still inside the vehicle.
Israel initially denied responsibility, but investigations by The Washington Post, Sky News and the research agency, Forensic Architecture, later concluded that Israeli tanks were in the vicinity and had likely fired at the car.
The same investigations indicated an Israeli tank had also targeted the ambulance sent to rescue her.
Ben Hania, one of the Arab world's most acclaimed filmmakers, has received multiple Academy Award nominations.
Her 2017 feature, 'Beauty and the Dogs,' was Tunisia's Oscar submission, while 'The Man Who Sold His Skin' (2020) was nominated for best international feature.
Her latest film, 'Four Daughters,' was nominated for best documentary feature at the 2024 Oscars.
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