Kaouther Ben Hania, whose movie about Gaza was the talk of the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday, is a Franco-Tunisian director who blurs the boundaries of reality with her hard-hitting works.

One of a new generation of filmmakers from Tunisia bringing social and political issues to the screen, the 48-year-old was the first director to represent the north African country at the Oscars in 2021.

For her latest film, “The Voice of Hind Rajab”, the actual distress calls made by a Palestinian five-year-old in Gaza to Red Crescent emergency workers serve as the film’s raw material.

Hind Rajab Hamada was fleeing the Israeli military in Gaza City with six relatives in February 2024 when their car came under fire.

As the sole survivor — hiding under the bloodied bodies of her dead family — she

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