At the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, nearly 400 prominent figures from the international film industry, including actors, directors, and producers such as Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Pedro Almodóvar, Mark Ruffalo, Javier Bardem, and Ruben Östlund, released an open letter condemning what they described as Israel's 'genocide' in Gaza. Published in the French newspaper Libération and the US magazine Variety, the letter called on the film community to "rise" and "name reality," criticising the industry's silence and passivity in the face of the ongoing violence and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
The letter paid tribute to Fatma Hassona, a 25-year-old Palestinian freelance photojournalist who was the subject of Sepideh Farsi's documentary Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk. The film was selected for the ACID section at Cannes. Ms. Hassouna was killed in an Israeli airstrike on 16 April 2025, alongside ten of her family members, just one day after the film's selection was announced. The letter highlighted her death as emblematic of the dangers faced by journalists and artists in Gaza, noting that over 200 journalists have been killed since October 2023.
The letter details that, just weeks earlier in March, Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal, winner of an Oscar for his film No Other Land, was 'brutally attacked by Israeli settlers and then kidnapped by the army before being released under international pressure'. It notes that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was pushed to apologise for not adequately supporting him.
At the festival's opening ceremony, Cannes jury president Juliette Binoche paid tribute to Fatima Hassouna, hinting at a possible further statement or gesture from the festival in response to the ongoing situation. Binoche had been initially reported as a signatory to the open letter, though her name did not appear on the final published list. She told reporters, "You'll maybe understand it a little later," suggesting that the festival might address the issue more directly during its proceedings.
The letter follows:
Fatma Hassona was 25 years old.
She was a Palestinian freelance photojournalist. She was targeted by the Israeli army on 16 April 2025, the day after it was announced that Sepideh Farsi’s film “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk,” in which she was the star, had been selected in the ACID section of the Cannes Film Festival.
She was about to get married.
Ten of her relatives, including her pregnant sister, were killed by the same Israeli strike.
Since the terrible massacres of 7 October 2023, no foreign journalist has been authorised to enter the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army is targeting civilians. More than 200 journalists have been deliberately killed. Writers, film-makers and artists are being brutally murdered.
At the end of March, Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal, who won an Oscar for his film “No Other Land,” was brutally attacked by Israeli settlers and then kidnapped by the army, before being released under international pressure. The Oscar Academy’s lack of support for Hamdan Ballal sparked outrage among its own members and it had to publicly apologize for its inaction.
We are ashamed of such passivity.
Why is it that cinema, a breeding ground for socially committed works, seems to be so indifferent to the horror of reality and the oppression suffered by our sisters and brothers?
As artists and cultural players, we cannot remain silent while genocide is taking place in Gaza and this unspeakable news is hitting our communities hard.
What is the point of our professions if not to draw lessons from history, to make films that are committed, if we are not present to protect oppressed voices?
Why this silence?
The far right, fascism, colonialism, anti-trans and anti-LGBTQIA+, sexist, racist, islamophobic and antisemitic movements are waging their battle on the battlefield of ideas, attacking publishing, cinema and universities, and that’s why we have a duty to fight.
Let’s refuse to let our art be an accomplice to the worst.
Let us rise up.
Let us name reality.
Let us collectively dare to look at it with the precision of our sensitive hearts, so that it can no longer be silenced and covered up.
Let us reject the propaganda that constantly colonizes our imaginations and makes us lose our sense of humanity.
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.
The signatories are:
Khalid Abdalla
Noée Abita
Hany Abu-Assad
Raphaëlle Agogué
Iyad Alasttal
Catia Albertazzi
Vlad Alexis
Taraneh Alidoosti
Waad Al-Kateab
Yasmine Al Massri
Pedro Almodóvar
Pedro Alonso
Cristèle Alves Meira
Serdar Akar
India Amarteifio
Gianni Amelio
Mo Amer
Carmine Amoroso
Elisa Amoruso
Romain André
Roberto Andò
Geoff Arbourne
Francesca Archibugi
Tiziana Aristarco
Swann Arlaud
Olivier Azam
Gökçe Bahadir
Jeanne Balibar
Baloji
Avital Barak
Carlos Bardem
Javier Bardem
Melissa Barrera
Belma Baş
Dominique Baumard
Xavier Beauvois
Saïd Ben Saïd
Leïla Bekhti
Luca Bellino
Suzy Bemba
Adila Bendimerad
Kaouther Ben Hania
Dali Benssalah
Fabrizio Bentivoglio
Julie Bertuccelli
Simone Bitton
Konstantin Bojanov
Bertrand Bonello
Agathe Bonitzer
Amélie Bonnin
Bruno Bontzolakis
Lucie Borleteau
Sami Bouajila
Elodie Bouchez
Bastien Bouillon
Guillaume Brac
Rachida Brakni
Evelyne Brochu
Silvia Brunelli
Jean-Stéphane Bron
Celeste Brunnquell
Gianfranco Cabiddu
Esmeralda Calabria
Laure Calamy
Mimmo Calopresti
Mehmet Can Mertoğlu
Eric Cantona
Stefania Casini
Antonio Maria Castaldo
Marco Castaldi
Sergio Castellitto
Beniamino Catena
Ebru Nuri Ceylan
Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Lolita Chammah
Moïra Chappedelaine-Vautier
Amira Chebli
Nadim Cheikhrouha
Antoine Chevrollier
Simona Chiocca
Julie Christie
Hélier Cisterne
Isabel Coixet
Daniele Coluccini
Maddalena Crippa
David Cronenberg
Costa-Gavras
Saverio Costanzo
Paolo Costella
Pappi Corsicato
Brian Cox
Marcia Cross
Alfonso Cuarón
Liam Cunningham
Sinéad Cusack
Fatima Daas
Cherien Dabis
Béatrice Dalle
Charles Dance
Ciro D’Emilio
Arkin Mercan Dede
Mary Ellen Davis
Slimane Dazi
Yann Dedet
Matthieu de Laborde
Pierre Deladonchamps
Émilie Deleuze
Agnès de Sacy
Volfango De Biasi
Ciro De Caro
Maura Delpero
Maria De Medeiros
Giuliana De Sio
Maria Teresa De Vito
Sylvain Desclous
Lukas Dhont
Juan Diego Botto
Alice Diop
Javad Djavahery
Julie Delpy
Xavier Dolan
Dimitri Doré
Laetitia Dosch
Joana Dos Reis
Mike Downey, OBE.
Sara Driver
Luana Duchemin
Sophie Dupuis
Pierre-Nicolas Durand
Virginie Efira
Hannah Einbinder
Sayyid El Alami
Ouidad Elma
Amir El-Masry
Mareike Engelhardt
Víctor Erice
Benedikt Erlingsson
Adèle Exarchopoulos
Roberto Faenza
Frédéric Farrucci
Sepideh Farsi
Nina Faure
Elda Ferri
Margherita Ferri
Isabella Ferrari
Lisa Festa
Ralph Fiennes
Sophie Fiennes
Milena Fiore
Mahdi Fleifel
Michele Fornasero
Marine Francen
Blanche Gardin
Lena Garrel
Carmen Garcia
Jean-Raymond Garcia
Nicole Garcia
Pablo Garcia Canga
Matteo Garrone
Alessandro Gassmann
Nadia Genet
Xavier Gens
Paolo Genovese
Aurélia Georges
Richard Gere
Denis Gheerbrant
Adriano Giannini
Alex Gibney
Raphaël Girardot
Jonathan Glazer
Judith Godrèche
Brice Gravelle
Emmanuel Gras
Zeno Graton
Marco Greco
José Luis Guerín
Diane Guerrero
Samir Guesmi
Vincent Guilbert
Alain Guiraudie
German Gutierrez
Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal
Grimur Hákonarson
Rebecca Hall
Arthur Harari
Misan Harriman
Lena Headey
Clotilde Hesme
Hafsia Herzi
Ted Hope
Vanessa Hope
Sandra Huller
Fiorella Infascelli
Mohamed Jabaly
Annemarie Jacir
Alma Jodorowsky
Óskar Jónasson
Elisabeth Jonniaux
Valdimar Jóhannsson
Rachel Leah Jones
Þorsteinn Jónsson
Gladys Joujou
Radu Jude
Ilker Kaleli
Asif Kapadia
Semih Kaplanoğlu
Mathieu Kassovitz
Aki Kaurismäki
Jacques Kébadian
Erwan Kepoa Falé
Yannick Kergoat
Sofian Khammes
Michel Khleifi
Shaka King
Héléna Klotz
Nicolas Klotz
Wilma Labate
Ariane Labed
Mourad Laffitte
Philippe Laïk
Yórgos Lánthimos
Alexis Langlois
Nadav Lapid
Luc Leclerc du Sablon
Erwan Le Duc
Radouan Leflahi
Mike Leigh
Blandine Lenoir
Philippe Lespinasse
Mica Levi
Luigi Lo Cascio
Elisabetta Lodoli
Florence Loiret-Caille
Stefano Lorenzi
Boris Lojkine
Fabiomassimo Lozzi
Daniele Lucchetti
Silvia Luzi
Filippo Macelloni
Guslagie Malanda
David Mambouch
Simone Manetti
Andrea Manni
Miriam Margolyes
Narimane Mari
Vincent Mariette
Félix Maritaud
Laïla Marrakchi
Lucrecia Martel
Mario Martone
Alessandra Masi
Valerio Mastandrea
Patricia Mazuy
Simon McBurney
Mounia Meddour
Sylvestre Meinzer
Fernando Meirelles
Kleber Mendonça Filho
Nina Menkes
Stéphane Mercurio
Christian Carmosino Mereu
Frédéric Mermoud
Nina Meurisse
Valerio Mieli
Emmanuelle Millet
Davide Minnella
Avi Mograbi
Indya Moore
Mercedes Morán
Laura Morante
Gérard Mordillat
Viggo Mortensen
Anna Mouglalis
Gabriele Muccino
Peter Mullan
Margherita Murolo
Lino Musella
Arab Nasser
Tarzan Nasser
Dalia Naous
Nadine Naous
Raphaël Neal
Enza Negroni
Susanna Nicchiarelli
Cynthia Nixon
Bruno Nuytten
Andrea Occhipinti
Michela Occhipinti
Joshua Oppenheimer
Luis Ortega
Ruben Östlund
Damien Ounouri
Ferzan Ozpetek
Rosa Palasciano
Hlynur Pálmason
Daphné Patakia
Paul Pascot
Raffaele Passerini
Guy Pearce
Elisabeth Perceval
Antonin Peretjatko
Nahuel Pérez Biscayart
Aurélia Petit
Ralitza Petrova
Just Philippot
Giuseppe Piccioni
Caroline Poggi
Laura Poitras
Claire Pommet (Pomme)
Franssou Prenant
Frédérique Pressmann
Vimala Pons
Marco Simon Puccioni
Katell Quillévéré
Olivier Rabourdin
Odessa Rae
Michèle Ray-Gavras
Annick Redolfi
Christophe Régin
Jérémie Renier
Yannick Renier
Rémy Ricordeau
Michele Riondino
Tessa Ross
Yannick Rosset
Cecilia Roth
Mark Ruffalo
Rúnar Rúnarsson
Ira Sachs
Zaho de Sagazan
Ludivine Sagnier
Céline Sallette
Claudio Santamaria
Susan Sarandon
Stefano Sardo
Stefania Sandrelli
Aloïse Sauvage
Greta Scarano
Angela Schanelec
Pierre Schoeller
Niels Schneider
Vassili Schneider
Alessandro Scippa
Amanda Seales
Tracey Seaward
Sarah Seené
Guillaume Senez
Léonor Serraille
Alia Shawkat
Mélanie Simon-Franza
Eyal Sivan
Giancarlo Soldi
Paolo Sorrentino
Massimo Spano
Morgan Spector
Laetitia Spigarelli
Italo Spinelli
Juliette Smadja
Robyn Slovo
Roger Stahl
Teona Strugar Mitevska
Laurent Sylvestre
Gianluca Maria Tavarelli
Natacha Thiéry
Jean-Pierre Thorn
Ásdís Thoroddsen
Léa Todorov
Maria Sole Tognazzi
Melita Toscan du Plantier
Claire Touzard
Justine Triet
Alessandro Trigona
Jasmine Trinca
Carice van Houten
Pamela Varela
Giuseppe Varlotta
Indira Varma
Anjana Vasan
Sophie Verbeeck
Giovanni Veronesi
Paolo Virzì
Cat Villiers
Jonathan Vinel
Nicolas Wadimoff
Harriet Walter
James Wilson
Lambert Wilson
Alex Winter
Benedict Wong
Jessica Woodworth
Arieh Worthalter
Maud Wyler
Mohanad Yaqubi
L. Rezan Yeşilbaş
Sofiane Zermani
Andrea Zuliani
