AhlulBayt News Agency: The Cannes Film Festival has officially begun, but organizers are facing increasing pressure to address Israel’s ongoing military actions in Gaza.
Over 380 prominent figures in the film industry have signed an open letter, stating that they “cannot remain silent while genocide is taking place in Gaza.” The letter was initiated by several pro-Palestinian activist groups and published in the French newspaper Liberation and the US magazine Variety.
Among the signatories are Schindler’s List actor Ralph Fiennes and four former Cannes-winning directors, who expressed their disappointment in the industry’s lack of response. They stated that they were "ashamed" of the film world’s "passivity."
Hollywood stars Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon, along with acclaimed directors Pedro Almodóvar, Ruben Ostlund, Mike Leigh, and Costa-Gavras, condemned the killing of Palestinian photojournalist Fatima Hassouna.
Hassouna, 25, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on her family home in northern Gaza in April, along with 10 of her relatives.
She is featured in Sepideh Farsi’s documentary Put Your Soul On Your Hand And Walk, which has been selected for screening in the ACID section at the 78th Cannes Film Festival on Thursday.
The film’s director describes it as “a window, opened through a miraculous encounter with Fatima” into the “ongoing massacre of the Palestinians.”
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