Filmmaker and journalist Habibur Rahman explains how a disconnected telephone is moving around Portsmouth as a symbolic tool for connecting people and as a means of documenting powerful local stories.
Based on the principle of a Japanese wind phone, where people are asked to leave messages ‘in the wind’ for deceased loved ones, this particular phone is in memory of five-year-old Gazan girl Hind Rajab who was tragically killed by Israeli forces moments after making her last phone call for help in January 2024.
This project began with a simple but powerful concept: using a disconnected phone as a storytelling method. The idea was to create a space that felt intimate, familiar and safe—where people could share their experiences as if speaking to someone they know intimately. The result has been some deeply personal narratives, often previously untold. Portsmouth people have been given the opportunity to express themselves in their own voice and at their own pace.
Originally produced to to be aired as a TV series for ShotsTV, the project faced threats of censorship, but it’s now growing across multiple social media channels with the handle @islandcity.uk
Members of the public are invited to share their ‘call’ and learn about the story of Hind Rajab. Each story is then shared across social media platforms to a community of listeners.
The phone itself has become a symbol of hope. At its heart is the voice of a young Palestinian girl who made her final phone call, a haunting and tender recording, which not only evokes empathy in the listener, but anchors the project with a sense of urgency and emotional depth, inspiring others to speak up and share their own perspectives.
At its core, this is journalism that doesn’t just inform—it listens. It’s shaped by real people and driven by digital innovation. Through thoughtful platform use, community participation and unconventional editorial design, the project has created a new model for storytelling—collaborative, inclusive and profoundly human.
The original video of the project can be seen here.
Photograph by Habibur Rahman.
