More than 350 international film industry figures have signed an open letter condemning the killing of Fatma Hassona, a 25-year-old Palestinian photojournalist and protagonist of a documentary premiering at the Cannes Film Festival.
The letter, published on the festival’s opening day in Libération and Variety, was signed by prominent filmmakers and actors including Pedro Almodóvar, Ruben Östlund, Ralph Fiennes, Yórgos Lánthimos, Susan Sarandon, Alfonso Cuarón and David Cronenberg.
Hassona was killed along with 10 relatives, including her pregnant sister, in an Israeli air strike on her family home in northern Gaza last month.
The attack occurred the day after the documentary “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk,” in which she featured, was announced as part of the ACID Cannes selection.
“We cannot remain silent while genocide is taking place in Gaza,” the letter states. “We are ashamed of such passivity”.
The signatories, who also include Mark Ruffalo, Viggo Mortensen, Javier Bardem, Brian Cox, Sandra Hüller and Laura Poitras, urged cinema to use its art form to “draw lessons from history, to make films that are committed” and to “protect oppressed voices”.
French Minister of Culture Rachida Dati, when asked about the letter in Brussels, said: “It is their role to engage and to have a commitment. I believe that culture and politics go hand in hand”.
She added that she would be “very surprised if the cultural and artistic players weren’t mobilised and committed”.
The Cannes Film Festival opened with three films showcasing the devastation of Russia’s war on Ukraine, including two documentaries featuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as part of a “Ukraine Day” of programming. While no similar programming has been planned for the war in Gaza, festival organisers have said the film featuring Hassona will “honour” her memory.
The letter 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”.
(information from euronews.com/image source: AP Photo)
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