Disclaimer: I’m a blind film critic. This film has no audio description and its primary language is not English, though English is spoken.

My first international contender reviewed for the 2025 season. To my knowledge, no contenders have audio description. Not the ones being distributed by NeoN, Sony Pictures Classics, Amazon, Mubi, or any other company. There’s a belief that blind audiences aren’t worth the funding, because we are a niche audience. if that were truly true,companies like Netflix and Apple wouldn’t be describing their international shows and movies on a somewhat random basis. for example, I got to see a terrible French film this year, Delicious, which had audio description, but Left Handed Girl, which is Taiwan’s entry from Netflix, does not. Netflix still has never added audio description to Roma. I keep trying to change the conversation around international film, because clearly there can be an audience for it. I’m often asked “what do blind people watch?” As if our tastes are wildly different. They aren’t. We watch what you watch. if you think your movie is going to be a hit with the public in general, and you disregard audio description, you’re an asshole. We often watch with people, sighted friends and family. they talk to us about what they’ve watched. I’ve already had conversations this year about some of these foreign contenders and there’s not much I can offer, even if I’ve seen it.

that brings me to today’s contender, The Voice of Hind Rajab, which is Tunisia’s entry. As of this review, it has a Golden Globe nomination for Best Non-English Film, and it made the short list at the Oscars in International Film. It also rocked Venice this year where it premiered, triggering a 23 minute standing ovation, approximately a third of the film’s runtime. Try giving Avatar a standing ovation for a third of its runtime.

The film revolves around aid workers trying frantically to save the life of a six year old girl trapped in the middle of a conflict. I’d say war zone, but it feels more likely that she was living her life, and war came to her. She’s trapped in a car, her whole family was killed, and she somehow survived. Four aid workers are going to try and get help or relief to her, but can they do it in time? Can they save this child’s life?

My argument here is that this film is effective if you know the concept, because if you don’t know the ending, you are kind of waiting to make sure everything is OK. It has to be, right? I’ve seen comments about the slanted perspective, and some reject it for being pro-Palestine, but that’s just noise. The gimmick here is that this is real, the voice is real, and these are actors doing a dramatized version of what happened when the little girl called for help in real life.

If you can’t get past the politics of the Middle east, despite the fact this girl could be in Gaza just as easily as in the middle of the October 7th attack. But if you just can’t, she could also be trapped in the Ukrainian conflict. She could be anywhere. Hind Rajab could be calling from right here in America.

The Voices Of Uvalde, where we see a reenactment of the 911 operators listening to the children calling for help, who ultimately got none. I know there are still heartless bastards in the world, but I’m not one of them. Listening to this, which is only barely in English, but also seems to flip into other European languages as they call other agencies for help, is effective if you only know the context. Sure, the access can be frustrating, and I don’t want to excuse the lack of it. I would love for the producers to make this story as widely accessible as possible, because for as long as film exists, this can be effective as a reminder for any conflict, that kids do not deserve to be victims of decisions made by adults. Anywhere. Any race or ethnicity.

there’s a scene toward the end, where one of the workers appears to have a full circle moment, returning home to see his kid playing a war videogame. The idea that what he just experienced is just a frivolity for his household, the privilege of safety, is something I’m sure weighs on him.

I don’t plan on doing this for too many films with this level of inaccessibility, and frankly, I don’t know how to grade it. I don’t know what rank to put it at. I ahve a feeling if it had audio description, it would instantly teleport to my top 10, if not the top spot. The access will prevent it from getting my votes outside of perhaps filling out the International category. But, there’s something about the distinguishing stamp of rotten I’m not comfortable with. I think the film is fresh, as I did last year with No Other Land. I justt need these films to be accessible. That’s it. Impact everybody with your humanity, not just those with sight.

Then again, Hind Rajab was real. there was a real girl sitting in a car, with her dead family, while soldiers still fired at and around the car. She called for help. Her innocence is gone, and the film will let you know if she loses her life as well. And here I am, not in a war zone, talking on the internet about a film I got to see, and my job is film critic. I’m just not scoring this at Rotten.

The Voice Of Hind Rajab might rely on a gimmick, but it is possibly the most effective use of it, and should serve as a reminder that this could be a kid anywhere in the world, even here in America. Hind Rajab isn’t calling for help from the school down the street, but she could be, and many kids have.

Fresh. No Score Given.