From Toronto Film School to the Oscars: Saja Kilani

On the day of her graduation from Toronto Film School‘s Acting for Film, TV & the Theatre program, Saja Kilani was gifted a cake from a friend that read: “Happy Grad! Next Stop: Oscars!”

It was meant simply as a gesture of encouragement — an affectionate prediction at a moment when Kilani’s future still felt open and undefined.

Yet, less than four years later, the 28-year-old found herself standing on the very red carpet the cake had predicted — attending the 2026 Academy Awards as part of the cast of The Voice of Hind Rajab, which was nominated for best international feature.

Looking back at the photo of that cake now, the message reads differently.

“It felt surreal. A real full-circle moment, especially because it all happened so quickly,” Kilani said. “It reminded me that sometimes the things we joke about or dream of out loud carry more truth than we realize. But what made it even more meaningful was that it came through a film that is so close to my heart.”

Directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, The Voice of Hind Rajab tells the true story of a 5-year-old girl trapped in a car under fire in Gaza and her desperate calls to be rescued. Kilani plays Rana Faqih, the real-life Palestine Red Crescent Society volunteer who stayed on the line with Hind during her final hours.

For Kilani, a Jordanian-Palestinian-Canadian actress and poet, the role carried both artistic and personal weight.

“Portraying Rana was about getting to know her on a personal level,” she said. “She shared her story from her own perspective and, without trying to, showed me her courage. My role was to listen deeply and let that truth guide the performance.”

That process of listening didn’t end when filming did. Kilani has stayed in contact with Faqih since production wrapped, and the two have since become friends — most recently reuniting at a screening in Jordan as the film continued its international run.

“She’s an incredibly generous and passionate person, and she continues to show up for the story in such a powerful way,” Kilani said. “She often tells audiences that they’ve now become ambassadors for the film, which speaks to how deeply she believes in its message and its impact.”

As the film moved through major international festivals and award circuits — including nominations at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes and BAFTAs — its audience expanded far beyond the region where the story originated.

“Seeing Hind’s story recognized on this level is deeply moving,” Kilani said. “It feels like a breaking of silence. This kind of recognition helps open the door for the film to travel beyond our region and reach audiences who might not otherwise encounter Hind’s story.”

That door led, eventually, to Hollywood’s biggest stage.

“There were so many beautiful moments that night,” Kilani said of the Academy Awards. “But what stayed with me most was being able to speak about Hind’s voice on that carpet — a voice that was denied, now being heard on one of the biggest stages in cinema. That meant everything to me.”

Hart Massey, director of the Acting for Film, TV & the Theatre program at TFS, said watching Kilani’s trajectory unfold has been a defining moment for the school’s industry-active faculty.

“What sets TFS apart is that our programs are built around industry readiness and employability, not purely artistic training. We get students working and building portfolios as quickly as possible,” he said. “Watching Saja graduate and start building her career by landing a lead role in a film like this is hard to put into words. You just feel so much pride. I saw her film at the Toronto International Film Festival and it had a profound impact on me. It’s so moving and compelling.”

Kilani’s time training at TFS, she said, was defined less by a single methodology than by learning how to stay flexible in changing creative conditions. When she began the program, instruction was online due to the pandemic — an experience she initially worried would limit her development. Instead, she said it reshaped her approach entirely.

“It actually pushed me inward; it strengthened my writing,” she said. “Then when we transitioned back to in-person, I felt more physically connected and ready to bring that work into my body. It taught me to focus on what’s available to me in the moment, instead of what’s missing, and that mindset stayed with me on set.”

That writing practice never disappeared. Alongside her acting training at TFS, Kilani continued to develop poetry as a parallel discipline — one that ultimately deepened her access to performance itself, she said.

“Writing was my therapy, even during filming,” Kilani explained. “It has become a dual practice, where both disciplines coexist and feed into each other. Poetry helped me access emotional truth more instinctively, and that definitely shaped how I approached Rana. It allowed me to listen more deeply, to feel beyond the lines, and to stay connected to the inner world of the character.”

In a film built around real testimony and real loss, the question of artistic responsibility loomed large. For Kilani, it was never experienced as a burden separate from the work – but as the work itself.

“For me, it felt like a rare alignment between my artistic purpose and my personal values,” she said. “There is a responsibility that comes with telling a story like this, but it’s one I carry with pride. Rather than feeling like a tension, it grounded me. It gave the work a deeper sense of intention and truth.”

It’s a philosophy that, for Kilani, extends well beyond this one film. Her time at TFS prepared her to pursue theatre work as well, including her play Tales of a City by the Sea. She has also explored spoken word performances, presented a TEDx talk entitled The Mark That Made Me Fearless at TEDx IE Madrid, and has consistently used her art to centre Palestinian stories and insist on their humanity.

“For me, art is advocacy,” she said. “Whether through theatre, poetry, or film, my work is about reclaiming the narrative and insisting on humanity. I believe creation is how we keep people alive.”

For Kilani, the TFS graduation cake that once felt aspirational now reads differently in hindsight – a snapshot of her hopes and dreams before the festivals, award circuits and Oscar red carpets became a regular part of her professional life.