A group of more than 350 international actors, directors and producers have signed a letter published on the first day of the Cannes Film Festival condemning the killing of Fatma Hassouna, the 25-year-old Palestinian photojournalist and protagonist of the documentary Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk.
Hassouna was killed along with 10 relatives in an Israeli air strike on her family home in northern Gaza last month, the day after the documentary was announced as part of the ACID Cannes selection.
The signatories – which include Pedro Almodóvar, Ruben Östlund, Guy Pierce, Ralph Fiennes, Melissa Barrera, Yórgos Lánthimos, Susan Sarandon, Alfonso Cuarón and David Cronenberg – denounce genocide in Gaza: “We cannot remain silent while genocide is taking place in Gaza,” read the letter initiated by several pro-Palestinian activist groups and published in French newspaper Libération and US magazine Variety.
“We are ashamed of such passivity.”
The letter also urged cinema to use its art form to “draw lessons from history, to make films that are committed” and to be “present to protect oppressed voices.”
It concludes: “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.”
Other signatories include Mark Ruffalo, Viggo Mortensen, Javier Bardem, Leïla Bekhti, Costa-Gavras, Brian Cox, Radu Jude, Asif Kapadia, Aki Kaurismäki, Alex Gibney, Julie Delpy, Virginie Efira, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Judith Godrèche, Sandra Hüller and Laura Poitra. Euronews
