The Cannes Film Festival this week served as a major platform to show solidarity with Gaza as over 370 actors, directors, and industry professionals signed a petition condemning the Israeli occupation’s assault on Gaza and mourning the killing of Palestinian photojournalist Fatima Hassouna. 

Hassouna, the young photojournalist featured in the Cannes-premiered documentary Put Your Soul in Your Hand and Walk, was killed alongside 10 members of her family shortly after learning her work would be screened at the prestigious festival. 

French actress Juliette Binoche, chair of the Cannes jury, delivered an emotional tribute to Hassouna during the festival’s opening ceremony. "She should have been here tonight with us," Binoche said, holding back tears. Although initially appearing hesitant to endorse the petition, Binoche later added her name, joining the growing list of signatories. 

'Shameful silence'

The petition was spearheaded by organizers seeking to amplify calls for justice amid “shameful silence” within the film industry regarding the Israeli regime’s siege on Gaza. 

Among the prominent figures lending their names are Rooney Mara, US director Jim Jarmusch, French actor Omar Sy, and Schindler’s List star Ralph Fiennes. Other high-profile signatories include Richard Gere, Mark Ruffalo, Guy Pearce, Susan Sarandon, Javier Bardem, David Cronenberg, Pedro Almodóvar, Alfonso Cuarón, and Mike Leigh. 

"We are ashamed of our industry’s failure to speak out," the letter reads, pointing to what the signatories describe as a complicit silence in the face of overwhelming civilian suffering in the besieged Palestinian enclave. 

French actor Camille Cottin and American filmmaker Michael Moore also joined the list of signatories this week, highlighting the momentum building within global artistic circles to confront the devastating toll of the war on Gaza. 

Aggression disproportionately targeting civilians

In her Tuesday speech at Cannes, Binoche also acknowledged the Israeli captives taken by the Palestinian resistance during the October 7, 2023, operation, which marked the beginning of the ongoing war. However, the letter’s signatories emphasized that the occupation’s relentless bombardment and blockade, now in its seventh month, have inflicted disproportionate harm on Palestinian civilians and must be unequivocally condemned. 

Hassouna, 25, is the subject of a new documentary titled Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, directed by Iranian filmmaker Sepideh Farsi. 

Hassouna and ten relatives were killed in an Israeli air raid on her family home in northern Gaza last month, only one day after the documentary was revealed as part of the ACID Cannes selection.

Farsi welcomed the impact of her film but urged Cannes Festival organisers to condemn "Israel's" continuous assault on Gaza.