French actress Juliette Binoche, who heads this year’s Cannes jury that will award the prestigious Palme d’Or, lamented the death of Gaza photographer Fatima Hassouna before a star-studded audience.
Hassouna, 25, was killed in an Israeli air strike last month along with her family, just a day after a documentary about her was selected to premiere at Cannes.
“She should have been here tonight with us,” Binoche said, adding, “In every region of the world, artists are fighting every day and turning resistance into art.”
Meanwhile, a long standing ovation was given to Sepideh Farsi, director of Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, a documentary about photographer Fatima Hassouna.
With Israel banning foreign media from entering the besieged Palestinian territory, Farsi connected with Hassouna through video calls, transforming more than 200 days of conversations into Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk.
A day after Hassouna was informed that her story had been selected for a sidebar section at the world’s most prestigious film festival, an Israeli missile struck her home in northern Gaza, killing her and ten of her relatives.
“They were normal people. Her father was a taxi driver, she was a photographer, her sister was a painter, and her little brother was 10 years old,” Farsi told AFP before the screening.
“My heart goes out to her mother, who lost six of her children, her husband, and her home. She lost everything.”
