15-05-2025
Palestinian Photojournalist Fatma Hassona, Killed in Israeli Missile Strike, Remembered at Emotional Cannes Premiere of ‘Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk'
The Cannes world premiere of Sepideh Farsi's documentary 'Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk' turned into a moving tribute to its protagonist Fatma Hassona, who was killed by an Israeli missile just weeks earlier.
An emotional Farsi fought back tears as she introduced the film and afterwards held aloft a photo of Hassona.
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Hassona, a 25-year photojournalist who based in Gaza, was killed with her family by an Israeli missile that targeted her building in April, just a day after the film had been selected for Cannes.
In the film, it was revealed that Farsi and Hassona had spoken about the possibility of her leaving Gaza and attending the festival.
On the first day of Cannes, Hassona was named in a letter signed by more than 370 industry figures that condemned her death and also criticized 'silence' from the cinema industry over Gaza.
Signed by names such as Mark Ruffalo, Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes, Melissa Barrera, Yorgos Lanthimos, Javier Bardem, Hannah Einbinder, Pedro Almodóvar, David Cronenberg, Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Leigh, Alex Gibney, Viggo Mortensen, Cynthia Nixon, Tessa Ross and many more, the letter also called out AMPAS for its 'lack of support' for 'No Other Land' co-director Hamdan Ballal after his arrest by the Israeli army.
'We are ashamed of such passivity,' it read, concluding: 'For Fatma, for all those who die in indifference. Cinema has a duty to carry their messages, to reflect our societies. Let's act before it's too late.'
After the news of Hassona's death, the ACID team put out a statement
'Her smile was as magical as her tenacity: bearing witness, photographing Gaza, distributing food despite the bombs, mourning and hunger. We heard her story, rejoiced at each of her appearances to see her alive, we feared for her,' it said.
'We had watched and programmed a film in which this young woman's life force seemed like a miracle. This is no longer the same film that we are going to support and present in all theaters, starting with Cannes. All of us, filmmakers and spectators alike, must be worthy of her light.'
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