ORLTTRE to the sparkling glamor, on the Croisette, in these days the epicenter of world cinema with the opening of the 78th Cannes Festival, there is more: a wave of indignation and pain for the massacre of civilians in Gaza. This is why, that, Over 350 among the stars of the cinematographic firmament international, they united their voices in a disruptive letterpublished right on the inaugural day of Cannes, to forcefully condemn the operations of Israel in the Gaza Strip e The tragic killing of the Palestinian photojournalist Fatma Hassouauna.
Cannes and Gaza: from the cinema a cry of indignation
“We cannot remain silent while a genocide is being consumed in Gaza», He thunders the letter, made public by the authoritative pages of Libération And Varietyin whose lines, vibrant of indignation, A deep sense of shame transpires for “passivity” Which seems to wrap the film industry in front of the horror that is consumed in the strip. The letter urges, moreover, The cinema to use its art form to “draw lessons from history and make more committed films” and be “more present to protect oppressed voices”.
Fatma Hassuna, a goal broken in the heart of Gaza
Fatma Hassunajust twenty -five years old, was a Palestinian photojournalist with the goal focused on the pulsating reality of Gaza. His young lifeimbued with passion for visual narrative, It was broken by an Israeli air attack Who, on April 16, 2025, destroyed his family’s house in the north of Gaza, taking away ten of his loved ones with him, including his pregnant sister. Bitter irony of fate, The news of this brutal endjust came one day after the announcement that, Put your soul on your hand and walkThe SEPIDEH DOCUMENTIO MAKE WHICH FATMA was the protagonisthad been selected for the prestigious Acid section of the Cannes Film Festival.
Over 350 international artists use the Cannes platform to express their indignation for the situation in Gaza (Getty Images)
The heartfelt appeal: the cinema in defense of the oppressed voices
The cry of the artists becomes pressing, inviting cinema, powerful art form, to stand for bulwark to “protect oppressive voices”. A heartfelt appeal that resonates as a warning: “What is the purpose of our professions if not to draw lessons from history, to make films committed, if we are not present to protect oppressed voices?”.
The memory of Fatma Hassouna, a symbol of indifference
The memory of Fatma becomes a symbol of an indifference that tears the collective consciousness. “For Fatma, for all those who die in indifference,” the over three hundred and fifty signatories write with the broken heart. «Cinema has a duty to bring their messages to reflect our companies. We act before it’s too late ”. The letter does not fail to underline The dramatic context in which journalists operate in Gazawith the ban imposed on foreign reporters to access the strip and the accusations of targeted attacks against civilians, who would have already caused the death of over 200 journalists, In addition to writers, filmmakers and artists. The recent episode of the Palestinian Hamdan Ballal, co-director of the documentary is also mentioned No Other Landwinner of the Oscar for the best documentary in 2025, attacked by Israeli settlers, arrested and then released the day following detention, thanks to international pressure.
An act of resistance in Cannes spotlight
The echo of this letter resonates powerful among the Cannes lightsa strident contrast with glamor and celebrations. And resonates, also because the Festival, He chose to open his edition with a tribute to the devastation of the war in Ukraineby presenting films that testify to the consequences of the war and which also involve Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. A scenario in which only iThe film on Fatma Hassouna, is configured as a memory act in a context of potential oblivion.
Cannes and Gaza, the rebellion against oblivion
The cry of the artists is a clear refusal of a “propaganda that constantly colonizes our imagination and makes us lose our sense of humanity”. It is a rebellion, a collective invitation to «give a name to reality and to look at it with the precision of our sensitive hearts», So that silence can no longer obscure the truth and indifference can no longer swallow innocent lives such as that of Fatma Hassouna.
The entire letter
Fatma Hassouna was 25 years old, he was a Palestinian freelance photojournalist. It was targeted by the Israeli army on April 16, 2025, the day after the announcement that the Sepideh film Make “Put Your Soul On Your Hand and Walk”, of which he was the protagonist, had been selected in the Acid section of the Cannes Film Festival. He was about to get married. Ten relatives, including the pregnant sister, were killed by the same Israeli attack. From the terrible massacre of 7 October 2023, no foreign journalist is authorized to enter the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army targeted civilians. More than 200 journalists have been deliberately killed. Writers, filmmakers and artists are brutally murdered. At the end of March the Palestinian director Hamdan Ballal, winner of an Oscar for his film “No Other Land”, was brutally attacked by the Israeli settlers and then kidnapped by the army, before being released thanks to international pressure. The lack of support from the Oscar Academy towards Hamdan Ballal sparked the indignation of his own members and had to publicly apologize for his inaction. We are ashamed of this passivity.
A collective cry against disinterest and propaganda
Why does cinema, fertile ground for works of social commitment, seems to be so indifferent to the horror of reality and the oppression suffered by our sisters and brothers? As artists and cultural operators, we cannot remain silent while a genocide is consumed in Gaza and this unspeakable news strikes our communities hard. What is the purpose of our professions if not to draw lessons from history, to make films committed, if we are not present to protect oppressed voices? Why this silence?
The extreme right, fascism, colonialism, anti-trans and anti-Lgbtqia+movements, sexists, racists, Islamophobics and anti-Semites are fighting on the battlefield of ideas, attacking publishing, cinema and universities, and this is why we have the duty to fight. We refuse that our art is an accomplice of the worst. Let’s rebel. Let’s give a name to reality. We collectively dare to look at it with the precision of our sensitive hearts, so that it can no longer be silenced and covered. We refuse the propaganda that constantly colonizes our imagination and makes us lose our sense of humanity. For Fatma, for all those who die in indifference. Cinema has a duty to bring their messages to reflect our companies. We act before it’s too late.
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